U.S. Census Bureau Daily Featur : Pumping Gas

WASHINGTON -- Sept. 5, 2015: Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

PUMPING GAS

Profile America — Saturday, September 5th. A device that many of us line up to use every few days or weeks was first unveiled on this date in 1885 — the gas pump. Sylvanus Bowser of Fort Wayne, Indiana made the pump for a customer to dispense a single barrel of fuel for lamps and stoves. As one might expect, the advent of automobiles spurred the development, popularity and distribution of the gas pump. Eventually, the inventor's name became a generic term for a fuel dispenser, and gas pumps in New Zealand and Australia are still called a "bowser." Across the U.S., there are more than 112,000 gas stations doing over a half-trillion dollars worth of annual business. Each year, the pumps at these stations dispense nearly 170 billion gallons of gasoline and special fuels, including diesel. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at Census.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 4410

Gasoline stations/NAICS 447: Gas Pumps