COMPANY·HISTORIES
SIC 2869

Industrial Organic Chemicals, Not Elsewhere Classified

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

29companies1879–1991founding years29still active0no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedChattem, Inc.
1879
FoundedPPG Industries, Inc.
1883
FoundedKao Corporation
1887
FoundedAmoco Corporation
1889
FoundedWestvaco Corporation
1899
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedE.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company
1915
FoundedRohm and Haas Company
1917
FoundedAlliedSignal Inc.
1920
FoundedQuantum Chemical Corporation
1924
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression spreads worldwide.
FoundedGreat Lakes Chemical Corporation
1933
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedAir Products and Chemicals, Inc.
1940
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedHach Co.
1951
FoundedFirst Mississippi Corporation
1957
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedAkzo Nobel N.V.
1969
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; currencies float.
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
FoundedNutraSweet Company
1985
FoundedGaylord Container CorporationFoundedSterling Chemicals, Inc.
1986
1987
EconomyBlack Monday: markets fall sharply around the world.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
FoundedOM Group, Inc.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EconomyThe Asian financial crisis rattles global markets.
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2008
EconomyThe global financial crisis freezes credit worldwide.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Chattem, Inc. →
Active · founded 1879
Chattem, Inc.
PPG Industries, Inc. →
Active · founded 1883
PPG Industries, Inc.
Ethyl Corporation →
Active · founded 1887
With facilities in the United States, Japan, France, England, and Belgium, Ethyl Corporation was a leading manufacturer…
Kao Corporation →
Active · founded 1887 · Japan
Kao Corporation, often called the Procter & Gamble of Japan, is one of Japan's leaders in personal care products,…
Amoco Corporation →
Active · founded 1889
Amoco Corporation is active in three main fields within the petroleum, natural gas, and chemical industries:…
Rhône-Poulenc S.A. →
Active · founded 1895 · France
Rhône-Poulenc S.A.
Westvaco Corporation →
Active · founded 1899
Westvaco Corporation is a major manufacturer of printing papers and envelopes, consumer and industrial packaging, and…
Courtaulds plc →
Active · founded 1913 · England
Courtaulds plc is the world's second-largest producer of acrylic fibers and a major global producer of rayon.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company →
Active · founded 1915
E.I.
Rohm and Haas Company →
Active · founded 1917
Rohm and Haas Company is a specialty chemical company that is best known for the invention of Plexiglas, a product it…
Union Carbide Corporation →
Active · founded 1917
Union Carbide Corporation is the world's largest producer of ethylene glycol, commonly used as antifreeze, and is a…
AlliedSignal Inc. →
Active · founded 1920
AlliedSignal Inc., formed from the acquisition of Signal Companies, Inc.
Quantum Chemical Corporation →
Active · founded 1924
Quantum Chemical Corporation (prior to 1988, the National Distillers and Chemical Corporation) is one of the largest…
Südzucker AG →
Active · founded 1926 · Germany
Südzucker AG is the largest sugar producer in the European Union (EU) with an annual production of three million metric…
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation →
Active · founded 1933
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation is one of the world's largest manufacturers of bromine and brominated chemical…
Petroleos Mexicanos →
Active · founded 1938 · Mexico
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is Mexico's largest enterprise in terms of total sales, total assets, personnel employed,…
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. →
Active · founded 1940
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Hach Co. →
Active · founded 1951
Hach Co.
Mitsui Petrochemical Industries, Ltd. →
Active · founded 1955 · Japan
Mitsui Petrochemical Industries, Ltd., also known as Mitsui Sekka, is one of Japan's leading petrochemical companies.
First Mississippi Corporation →
Active · founded 1957
First Mississippi Corporation is the largest company chartered in Mississippi and the only company from that state to…
Akzo Nobel N.V. →
Active · founded 1969 · Netherlands
The Dutch company Akzo Nobel N.V.
Novacor Chemicals Ltd. →
Active · founded 1981 · Canada
Novacor Chemicals Ltd.
NutraSweet Company →
Active · founded 1985
NutraSweet, the world's largest manufacturer of the sweetening product known as aspartame, originated as a single…
First Brands Corporation →
Active · founded 1986
First Brands is a leading consumer products company with operations based on a number of major brands: STP oil, Glad…
Gaylord Container Corporation →
Active · founded 1986
Gaylord Container Corporation is a major national manufacturer and distributor of corrugated containers,…
Sterling Chemicals, Inc. →
Active · founded 1986
Sterling Chemicals, Inc.
Repsol S.A. →
Active · founded 1987 · Spain
Repsol S.A.
OM Group, Inc. →
Active · founded 1991
Created through the 1991 merger of America's Mooney Chemicals, Inc., Finland's Kokkola Chemicals Oy, and France's…
Orkla A/S →
Active · founded 1991 · Norway
Orkla A/S is the largest branded consumer goods group and food and beverage producer in Scandinavia and one of the five…
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