by Bruce Wells | Feb 2, 2026 | This Week in Petroleum History
February 2, 1923 – First Anti-Knock Gas goes on Sale –
The world’s first anti-knock gasoline containing a tetra-ethyl lead compound went on sale at the Refiners Oil Company service station in Dayton, Ohio. Discovered two years earlier by General Motors scientists, “Ethyl” vastly improved engine performance. The company initially provided service stations with bolt-on adapters called “Ethylizers” to meter the proper proportion of the new additive. (more…)
by Bruce Wells | Sep 1, 2025 | This Week in Petroleum History
September 1, 1862 – Union taxes Manufactured Gas –
A new federal tax of up to 15 cents per thousand cubic feet was placed on manufactured gas to help fund the Civil War. Often processed from coal and stored in large gasometers, “town gas” had become popular for street and residential lighting. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle accused the local gas company of passing on the new tax, which “shifts from its shoulders its share of the burdens the war imposes and places it directly on their customers.” (more…)
