There is a traditional narrative in Estonia on how oil shale was first mentioned by A. W. Hupel in 1777 and how supposedly, A. J. Güldenstädt stated in his books that oil shale was discovered near Jõhvi in 1725. However, from historical literature and archival documents the authors of the present research found no evidence to prove these statements of the narrative. In this study, it will be specified how oil shale was actually discovered on the Kohala estate and first described in 1791.
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8. Cronstedt, A. Essay of Mineralogy. Verlegts C. G. Proft und Rothens Erben, Copenhagen und Leipzig, 1770 (in German).
9. Wallerio, J. G. Mineralogical System in which the Minerals, Classes, Orders, Genera and Species with their Varieties are Described. Vindobona, 1778, 2 (in Latin).
10. Linné, C. von. Natural System of the Mineral Kingdom after the Twelfth Latin Edition in a Free and Improved Translation of Johann Friedrich Gmelin. Nürnberg, 1778, 3 (in German).
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12. Wilde, P. E. Doctor's Book to Instruct Those Who Want to Guess and Repair Ailments (Hupel, A. W., ed.). W. J. v. Lauw, Põltsamaa, 1771 (in Estonian).
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18. Roose, A. Estonia Made of Oil Shale. Virumaa Fondi Toimetised, Tartu-Jõhvi, 1991, 3 (in Estonian).
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29. Anonym. Leo von zur Mühlen. Necrology. Baltische Briefe, 1962, 15(5), 10 (in German).
30. [Georgi, J. G.]. On burning land material from province of Reval. In: Auswahl ökonomischer Abhandlungen, welche die freie ökonomische Gesellschaft in St. Petersburg in deutscher Sprache erhalten hat, 1791, III, 330 (in German).
31. Bekker, H. The Kuckers Stage of the Ordovician Rocks of NE Estonia. Tartu, 1921.
32. Kogerman, P. N. The Chemical Composition of the Estonian M.-Ordovician Oil-bearing Mineral “Kukersite“. Dorpat, 1922.
33. Pogrebov, N. Oil Shales of the Baltics. Petrograd, 1920 (in Russian).
34. Doss, B. On the Possibility of Extracting Naphtha from Deposits at Schmarden in Kurland. Riga, 1900 (in German).
35. [Georgi, J. G.]. On burning land material from province of Reval. Trudy Vol’nogo Ekonomicheskogo Obshchestvo, 1792, ХV, 350–353 (in Russian).
