Gasoline is a volatile, flammable liquid obtained from petroleum or crude oil. It was originally discarded as a byproduct of kerosene production, but its ability to vaporize at low temperatures made it a useful fuel for many machines. The first oil well in the United States was struck by Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859 at a depth of almost 70 feet. With the development of the four-stroke internal combustion engine by Nikolaus Otto in 1876, gasoline became essential to the automotive industry. Today, nearly all gasoline is used to fuel automobiles, with a small percentage used to power agricultural equipment and aircraft.

Source: How Products are Made