Voting Station

Sir Robert Chesebrough

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Scientist

The Resume

    (January 1837-September 8, 1933)
    Died in Spring Lake, New Jersey
    Patented the process of petroleum jelly, subsequently named Vaseline (Patent #127568)
    Founder of the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company (1875; renamed Chesebrough-Ponds, 1955)

Why he might be annoying:

    He worked at clarifying kerosene from the oil of… sperm whales.
    Then, having his work rendered worthless by petroleum, he traveled to Titusville, Pennsylvania in the hopes of benefiting by the relatively young oil industry (1859).
    Oh, the things scientists will do for their work — cut and burn yourself to demonstrate the properties of Vaseline?
    He was not above throwing out his wife’s flowers and using her vases to store his glop.
    During his lifetime, the medicinal value of his new product was dismissed as hogwash — especially as he claimed to eat a spoonful a day of the stuff.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Augustus was not an unusual name in his day.
    At the oil rigs, he took note of the wax that routinely collected around the pump rods; oil workers would apply this residue to any cuts and burns they sustained in the drilling process.
    Unable to convince merchants to market his glop, he hit the road and did it himself.
    He also had a knack for poetry.
    He managed to live twice as long as his wife – again unusual in his day – who died in 1887.

Credit: Cool It All Right?


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying