Abraham Pineo Gesner was born back in 1797 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada. I don’t have a lot of information about his early childhood. He pursued a career at sea twice shipwrecked by his early twenties he returned to the family farm near Kentville. In 1824, he moved to London, England to study medicine at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.
He returned to Nova Scotia as a practicing physician. He also had a passion for geology. In 1838, he was appointed Provincial Geologist for New Brunswick. In 1842, he discovered the first great fossil deposits of the future Miguasha National Park. That same year he started the Gesner’s Museum of Natural History, in Saint John, New Brunswick, it was the first public museum in Canada.
What you may not know about Abraham is that he was also an inventor. In 1846, he developed a process to refine a liquid fuel from coal, bitumen and oil shale. He named his discovery kerosene. Now you know the rest of the story.
Your day is worthwhile when you make someone smile, so give the free gift of a smile today
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