Happy 150th birthday to modern oil

It was 150 years ago today that Edwin Drake struck oil near Titusville, Pennsylvania, kicking off the first oil rush and the beginning of the petroleum industry as we know it. Morgan Downey commemorates with a succinct history of modern oil production at the oil drum. As he indicates with a cheeky graphic and the name of his blog (Scarce Whales), the main use of petroleum was as a cheap lighting substitute for whale oil.