Drake Well, Pennsylvania, USA. Edwin Laurentine 'Colonel' Drake (1819-1880) American oil driller, said to have been the first to drill for oil. Drake, in tall hat in centre of the picture, talking to his engineer while the labourers who have dug the well wait in the background. Oil was struck on 27 August 1859. From All About Inventions and Discoveries (London, 1916).