American Edwin L. Drake Drills the First Oil Well (1859)
Overview
In 1859, Edwin L. ("Colonel") Drake (1819-1880) helped dig the world's first petroleum well. This launched the er...
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Edwin Laurentine Drake
1819-1880
American petroleum engineer who pioneered a new method of oil drilling. In his early years, Drake was a jack-of-all-trades, working as a hotel clerk, railway express a...
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Though he drilled only three oil wells in his lifetime, Edwin Drake (1819-1880) is known as the "Father of the Petroleum Industry" because the technology he devised to drill the first commercial oil w...
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American Edwin L. Drake Drills the First Oil Well (1859)
Edwin Drake