DuPont was founded by Eleuthere Irenee du Pont in 1802. It started as a gunpowder manufacturing company. It was noticed that this industry was lagging behind in the U.S. The DuPont company grew very quick. It was one of the largest gunpowder suppliers in the United States by the middle of the 19th century. It supplied approximately half of the powder used during the Civil War. DuPont continued to grow by beginning the production of smokeless powder and dynamite.
In 1902 the company was sold to the original founder's great-grandsons. At this time, DuPont bought several smaller chemical companies. These actions were under government scrutiny in 1912. DuPont was declared as a monopoly and was ordered to do a divestment. This resulted in the creation of the AstraZeneca and Hercules Power Companies. DuPont was responsible for creating two of the first industrial labs in the U.S. It is here that they began to work on lacquers, chemicals, cellulose chemistry, and other non-explosive products.
DuPont Central Research was created at the DuPont Experimental Station. In 1914, DuPont invested in the automobile industry by buying General Motors stock. In 1920, General Motors became the number one automobile company in the world.
In 1957, DuPont was forced to divest its shares of General Motors. Before this in the 1920s, DuPont created a focus on materials science. Neoprene was discovered. Nylon followed in 1935. Years later DuPont discovered Teflon and Lucite.
In 1935 an insecticide known as phenothiazine was introduced. The company also continued to be a major supplier of war supplies.
DuPont played a major role in producing the material for parachutes, tires, and powder bags, In 1942, DuPont played large role in the Manhattan Project. They designed, built, and operated the Hanford plutonium plant along with the Savannah River Plant. DuPont continued its focus on new materials after the war. The development of Dacron, Mylar, Lycra, and Dacron came about in the 1950s. Tyvek, Qiana, Corian, and Nomex came about in the 1960s.
DuPont created materials that were critical to the Apollo Space program. DuPont has always been the major company behind modern body armor. DuPont created ballistic nylon that was used in the military during WWII. Kevlar came about in the 1960s as an experiment to find heavier bullet resistant material. This bullet resistant material became the mainstay for vests used by the police and military.
DuPont acquired Conoco Inc. in 1981. This American oil company gave DuPont a secure source of petroleum feedstocks. These were needed for manufacturing plastic and fiber products.
DuPont became one of the top ten U.S. natural gas and petroleum refiners and producers. This came about after bidding war with Seagram Company Ltd. DuPont sold its Conoco shares in 1999. They then merged with Phillips Petroleum Company. DuPont's focus began to lean toward producing chemicals from plants, rather than petroleum.
Today, DuPont is a global science company. It employs over 60,000 people around the world. The range of products that DuPont offers is very vast. It was in 2005 that DuPont became the 66th ranked Fortune 500 Company.
