1859 edwin drake successfully drilled for oil in titusville penn 08 27
View in full resolution: 1608 x 2055
1859 167 years ago Selected Events August 27 4 sources

Edwin Drake successfully drilled for oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, resulting in the Pennsylvania oil rush, the first oil boom in the United States.

On August 27, in the year 1859, Edwin Drake successfully drilled for oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, resulting in the Pennsylvania oil rush, the first oil boom in the United States. This event is recorded as a Selected Events event in the history of August 27, one of 454 recorded events on this date across all of history.

Edwin Laurentine Drake, also known as Colonel Drake, was an American businessman and the first American to successfully drill for oil.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on August 27, 1859 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Selected Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 4 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 11 June 2026.

On This Date in History 454

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2024 Aug 27 Bob Carr, American politician (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2024 Aug 27 Juan Izquierdo, Uruguayan footballer (born 1997)
Notable Deaths 2024 Aug 27 Charlotte Kretschmann, German supercentenarian (born 1909)
Notable Deaths 2024 Aug 27 Leonard Riggio, American businessman (born 1941)
Notable Deaths 2016 Aug 27 Cookie, Australian Major Mitchell's cockatoo, oldest recorded parrot (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2015 Aug 27 Kazi Zafar Ahmed, Bangladeshi politician, 8th Prime Minister of Bangladesh (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2015 Aug 27 Pascal Chaumeil, French director and screenwriter (born 1961)
Notable Deaths 2015 Aug 27 Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player and coach (born 1957)
Notable Deaths 2014 Aug 27 Jacques Friedel, French physicist and academic (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2014 Aug 27 Valeri Petrov, Bulgarian poet, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2014 Aug 27 Benno Pludra, German author (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2013 Aug 27 Chen Liting, Chinese director and playwright (born 1910)
Notable Deaths 2013 Aug 27 Bill Peach, Australian journalist (born 1935)
Notable Deaths 2013 Aug 27 Dave Thomas, Welsh golfer and architect (born 1934)
Selected Events 2013 Aug 27 Religious violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India, leaving 62…
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 27 Neville Alexander, South African linguist and activist (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 27 Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 27 Art Heyman, American basketball player (born 1941)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 27 Ivica Horvat, Croatian footballer and manager (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 27 Richard Kingsland, Australian captain and pilot (born 1916)
Notable Deaths 2012 Aug 27 Geliy Korzhev, Russian painter (born 1925)
Historical Events 2011 Aug 27 Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage.
Notable Deaths 2010 Aug 27 Anton Geesink, Dutch martial artist (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2010 Aug 27 Luna Vachon, Canadian-American wrestler and manager (born 1962)
Historical Events 2009 Aug 27 Internal conflict in Myanmar: The Burmese military junta and ethnic armies begin three days of violent clashes in the…
Notable Deaths 2009 Aug 27 Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian author and poet (born 1913)
Selected Events 2009 Aug 27 The Myanmar military junta and ethnic armies began three days of violent clashes in the region of Kokang.
Notable Births 2007 Aug 27 Ariana Greenblatt, American actress
Notable Deaths 2007 Aug 27 Emma Penella, Spanish actress (born 1930)
Historical Events 2006 Aug 27 Comair Flight 5191 crashes on takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky, bound for Hartsfield–Jackson…
Notable Births 2006 Aug 27 Kang Ju-hyeok, South Korean footballer
Notable Deaths 2006 Aug 27 Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2006 Aug 27 Jesse Pintado, Mexican-American guitarist (born 1969)
Selected Events 2006 Aug 27 Comair Flight 5191 crashed while inadvertently attempting to take off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport in…
Selected Events 2006 Aug 27 Comair Flight 5191 crashed (wreckage pictured) while inadvertently attempting to take off from the wrong runway at…
Notable Deaths 2005 Aug 27 Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek trumpet player and composer (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2005 Aug 27 Seán Purcell, Irish footballer (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2004 Aug 27 Willie Crawford, American baseball player (born 1946)
Historical Events 2003 Aug 27 Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing 34,646,418 miles (55,758,005 km) distant.
Historical Events 2003 Aug 27 The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to…
Notable Deaths 2003 Aug 27 Pierre Poujade, French soldier and politician (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2002 Aug 27 Edwin Louis Cole, American religious leader and author (born 1922)
Notable Births 2001 Aug 27 Franz Wagner, German basketball player
Notable Deaths 2001 Aug 27 Michael Dertouzos, Greek-American computer scientist and academic (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2001 Aug 27 Abu Ali Mustafa, Palestinian politician (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 1999 Aug 27 Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop and theologian (born 1909)
Notable Births 1998 Aug 27 Kevin Huerter, American basketball player
Notable Births 1998 Aug 27 Matheus Nunes, Portuguese footballer
Notable Births 1998 Aug 27 Rod Wave, American rapper, singer, and songwriter
Notable Births 1998 Aug 27 Brandon Hagel, Canadian ice hockey player

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

More on August 27

Browse Further

📅 All events on August 27 454 events 📖 All events in 1859 🏷 More Selected Events events
0

Comments 0

Sign in to join the discussion.