Marty Lederhandler/AP Motorists rush to fill their gas tanks in Martinez, Calif., on Sept. 21, 1973. Northern California service station operators threatened to shut down entirely to protest gas price restrictions. AP Leon Mill spray paints a sign outside his Phillips 66 station in Perkasie, Pa., on June 1, 1973, to let his customers know he’s out of gas. An oil crisis was the culprit, squeezing U.S. businesses and consumers who were forced to line up at gas stations for hours. AP Cars line up at gas pumps during the OPEC shortage in 1979. R. Krubner/© R. Krubner/ClassicStock/Corbis Drivers and a man pushing a lawnmower line up at gas station in San Jose, Calif.