Spindletop.  Just south of Beaumont, Texas, on McFaddin-Wiess and Kyle land, at approximately 10:30 a.m. on January 10, 1901, the famous Lucas Gusher blew, marking the birth of the modern petroleum industry.  Oil sprayed over 100 feet above the derrick for nine days until the well was capped.  It was the greatest oil well ever seen, flowing 80,000 to 100,000 barrels per day.  The vast quantities of oil discovered at Spindletop made possible the use of oil as an inexpensive, lightweight and efficient fuel to propel the world into the twentieth century.  Many of todays major oil companies were born at Spindletop or grew to major corporate size as a result of their involvement in it.  The Texas Company (later Texaco), Gulf Oil Corporation, Sun Oil Company, Magnolia Petroleum Company, and Humble (now Exxon) were a few of the major corporations to benefit from Spindletop.