turn of the century, most people
burned wood or coal to heat their homes and
whale oil was the most common lamp fuel.
Which is why we nearly hunted them to extinction.
Coal was the primary fossil fuel used in steam
engines, which is what powered the railroads
and started the Industrial Revolution.
America is often described as the Saudi Arabia
of coal.
In 1901, the Hamill brothers struck oil at
Spindletop, Texas; while oil rigs had existed
for decades at that point, they didn’t hold
a candle to Spindletop.
They expected 50 barrels a day, but ended
up getting 80,000.
It was basically the Sutter’s Mill of oil
and even caused a wave of migration to the
area.
And later, a football team named for the same
reason.
Oil was a mostly-useless commodity up until
then, people would curse their luck if they
found it on their land, itwarm up
the engine before driving.
Gasoline can vaporize at normal environmental
temperatures and uses a spark to cause an
explosion in the cylinder.
Premature explosions are known as knocking.
Charles Kettering experimented with different
additives to try and reduce the frequency
of engine knocking and he eventually found
one, but it was far too common and unable
to be patented, he wanted something proprietary.
So, in 1924, he went with tetraethyllead – or
simply, lead.
Scientists warned of the dangers of spewing
leaded exhaust into the air we breathe, but
as I said, regulations weren’t a thing back
then.
Inhaling or ingesting lead permanently reduces
your cognitive ability.
It took 52 years for the EPA to phase out
lead and replace it with that first chemical
he discovered – ethanol.
Which is primarily derived from corn.
Nowadays, all gasoline in the United States
is required to contain at least 10% ethanol,
otherwise