An important new industry, oil refining, grew after the Civil war. Crude oil, or petroleum - a dark, thick ooze from the earth - had been known for hundreds of years, but little use had ever been made of it. In the 1850s Samuel M. Kier, a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania, began collecting the oil from local seepages and refining it into kerosene. Refining, like smelting, is a process of removing impurities from a raw material.
Kerosene was used to light lamps. It was a cheap substitute for whale oil, which was becoming harder to get. Soon there was a large demand for kerosene. People began to search for new supplies of petroleum.
The first oil well was drilled by E.L. Drake, a retired railroad conductor. In 1859 he began drilling in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The whole venture seemed so impractical and foolish that onlookers called it Drakes Folly. But when he had drilled down about 70 feet , Drake struck oil. His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day.
News of Drakes success brought oil prospectors to the scene. By the early 1860s these wildcatters were drilling for black gold all over western Pennsylvania. The boom rivaled the California gold rush of 1848 in its excitement and Wild West atmosphere. And it brought far more wealth to the prospectors than any gold rush.
Crude oil could be refined into many products. For some years kerosene continued to be the principal one. It was sold in grocery stores and door-to-door. In the 1880s refiners learned how to make other petroleum products such as waxes and lubricating oils. Petroleum was not then used to make gasoline or heating oil.
每日雅思词汇:谢耳朵的关键词
每日雅思词汇:"jump"的常用搭配
每日雅思词汇:各种鱼
雅思现在分词作状语练习
每日雅思词汇:被误解的电影词汇
雅思词汇中那些使用正式与非正式的词汇
每日雅思词汇:婚姻战争
每日雅思词汇:各种原因的表达
每日雅思词汇:基本数学词汇
每日雅思词汇:a cash cow
每日雅思词汇:知道中文就能拼的单词
每日雅思词汇:常用文具
每日雅思词汇:常见鞋子类型的说法
每日雅思词汇:麻将词汇
每日雅思词汇:蛇年说蛇
每日雅思词汇:爵位与封号
每日雅思词汇:做一个成功的人
每日雅思词汇:有关残疾人的电影推荐
每日雅思词汇:每日形容词汇
每日雅思词汇:那些“HOT”短语
每日雅思词汇:大款怎么说?
雅思单词记忆策略:大好基础 背诵作文词汇
每日雅思词汇:理性救灾
每日雅思词汇:口语里的due
每日雅思词汇:开怀大笑
雅思词汇的4大记忆方法
每日雅思词汇:国外的商店
雅思词汇:英语俚语(double whammy)的相关介绍
雅思单词记忆三部曲
雅思词汇分类整理之形容词
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |