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Events on Saturday 27 August 1859 1
1859First commercial oil well drilled in PennsylvaniaEdwin Drake strikes oil near TitusvilleEdwin Drake successfully drilled the first commercial oil well in the United States near Titusville, Pennsylvania, using a steam-powered drilling rig. The discovery triggered an oil boom and is widely regarded as the birth of the modern petroleum industry. Drake had used a drive pipe to keep the well from collapsing, a technique that became standard practice.