![]() ![]() ![]() As settlement by Europeans proceeded, oil was discovered in many places in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York-to the frequent dismay of the well owners, who were drilling for salt brine.ġ780s – Swiss physicist Aime Argand (1750-1803) realizes that by placing a circular wick in the middle of an oil lamp and covering it with a chimney to improve airflow, the lamp would burn 10 times brighter than a candle, and also cleanly. Oil was extremely expensive, so the technique was not used often.ġ750 – A French military officer notes that Indians living near Fort Duquesne (now the site of Pittsburgh) set fire to an oil-slicked creek as part of a religious ceremony. The idea was later adopted to defend castles during the Middle Ages. The first use of boiling oil was by Jews defending the city of Jotapata against the Romans in 67 CE. The Chinese refined crude oil for use in lamps and in heating homes.ģ23-30 BCE – Ptolemaic period Ancient Egyptians preserve their dead as mummies by soaking them in a brew of chemicals such as salt, beeswax, cedar tree resin, and bitumen.ġ46 BCE – When the Romans set the ancient city of Carthage on fire, the bitumen on the roofs ensures the flames spread rapidly and destroyed the city.Ħ7 CE – Middle Ages When enemies try to scale the walls of a castle of fortified town, defenders pour boiling oil down on them. The natural gas was burned under big pans to boil off the water and obtain the salt. They found oil and natural gas as they drilled deeper. They used bamboo tipped by iron to get brine (salty water) for medicine and preserving food. Persian archers put it on their arrows to fire flaming missiles at their enemies.Ģ,000 years ago – The Chinese begin to drill wells in Sichuan. They soon learned that it could be used to seal water tanks, waterproof boats (now known as caulking) and glue broken pots.ħth century BCE – A magnifying glass is used to concentrate the sun’s rays on a fuel and light a fire for light, warmth and cooking.Ħth century BCE – Persians discover that a thinner form of bitumen, called naft, could be lethal in battle. The Greeks improved lamps by putting a lid on the bowl.Ħ,500 years ago – People living in marshes added bitumen to bricks and cement to waterproof their houses from floods. Oil lamps remained the main source of lighting until the gas lamp invention in Victorian times. The first oil lamps are made by hollowing out a stone, filling it with moss or plant fibers and setting the moss on fire. Hunters use bitumen (also called pitch or tar) to attach flint arrowheads to their arrows.ħ0,000 years ago – Prehistoric people discover that oil burns with a bright, steady flame. 280 to 345 million years ago – Carboniferous period fossil fuel formation begins.Īround 3 million years ago – Stone Age Vast underground oil reserves seep to the surface in sticky black pools and lumps, called bitumen. ![]()
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