1886 Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
1891 The first gasoline-powered car debuts in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States.
1919 Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
1942 The United States government begins compulsory civilian gasoline rationing due to the wartime demands.
1963 Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
1974 President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo
2000 A leaking southern Nigerian petroleum pipeline explodes, killing about 250 villagers scavenging gasoline.