⏳ A World at the Edge By the middle of the 19th century, the world was racing forward—but its fuel sources were falling behind. Whale oil was vanishing into the deep with every hunted leviathan. Coal filled the skies with…
Before the world ran on gasoline and pipelines stretched across continents, it was whale oil, coal, and wood that powered civilization. Each one, in its time, lit the dark, warmed the cold, and drove the engines of empires. From the…
Before oil powered empires and reshaped global politics, it existed as a quiet, curious presence—oozing from the earth, largely untouched by industrial ambition. The pre-1859 uses of oil were rooted in ancient ingenuity rather than modern machinery. From the bitumen-soaked…
