In 1859, 22-year-old chemist Robert A. Chesebrough accidentally discovered petroleum jelly when he visited a working oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Oil workers complained of a gooey substance referred to as "rod wax" which kept getting into the machinery and slowing them down. Chesebrough noticed that oil workers also smeared this same substance on their burn marks or dry skin to help speed the healing process.
Ten years later, Chesebrough refined the original rod wax found in the oil factories to the ubiquitous Vaseline product that we see in drugstores everywhere today.
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Other than protecting skin from getting chapped and supposedly helping eyelashes grow thicker and longer, petroleum jelly can also remove water ring marks from your table surface, tame your unruly eyebrows, prevent rust from forming on your outdoor tools, fix a stuck lock, and more.
Got your own favorite uses for petroleum jelly? Share with us.
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