| 1897 |
May 18, 1897 Dow Chemical is incorporated. |
| 1898 |
First commercial scale production of bleach. Dow in diamond created. |
| 1900 |
Midland Chemical Co merges into Dow. |
| 1904 |
Dow institutes Sales Department |
| 1906 |
Dow produces sodium benzoate. |
| 1908 |
Ag, Chemicals Division established. |
| 1910 |
First sales of calcium sulfide. |
| 1916 |
First market of calcium chloride, magnesium and acetyl salicylic acid. |
| 1918 |
Herbert H. Dow named president. |
| 1922 |
Introduces record number of new products including ethylene dibromide. |
| 1928 |
Styrene and “Saran” developed. |
| 1929 |
First woman researcher hired. |
| 1930 |
Herbert Dow dies; Willard succeeds. |
| 1931 |
Ethyl-Dow formed to extract bromine from seawater. |
| 1935 |
Dow enters plastics business with Introdusction of ethyl cellulose (“Ethocel”). |
| 1937 |
Stock listed on NYSE; “Styron” polystyrene resins introduced. |
| 1940 |
Texas land purchased to extract bromine & magnesium from seawater. |
| 1943 |
Dow and Corning Glass form Dow Corning to produce silicones. |
| 1944 |
Dow employees total 12,300. |
| 1946 |
Construction of polystyrene plant in Sarnia, Ontario. |
| 1948 |
Plastics reach 20% of sales. |
| 1949 |
Willard Dow dies; Leland Doan succeeds. |
| 1951 |
Employees reach 19,500. Dow Chem. International formed. |
| 1952 |
“Saran Wrap” introduced. |
| 1958 |
Chemicals account for 52% of sales, and plastics at 35%. |
| 1960 |
Dow introduces 29 new products. Employment 30,000; sales $1 billion. |
| 1962 |
Herbert D. Doan succeeds Leland. Bioproducts Dept. integrates biological, animal, health care, pharmaceutical, and agricultural product research. |
| 1963 |
1 billion pounds of plastics produced. |
| 1965 |
Measles vaccine introduced. |
| 1966 |
Dow adds epoxy resins. |
| 1968 |
Ziploc bags test marketed. |
| 1970 |
Dow introduces complete line of Automotive application products |
| 1971 |
C.B. Branch elected Pres. & CEO. Sales exceed $2 billion. |
| 1972 |
Dow introduces “Lorsban” insecticide. |
| 1974 |
Dow has 53,500 employees. Foreign sales reach 43%. |
| 1975 |
“Styrofoam” insulation supplied for the Alaska pipeline. |
| 1976 |
Zoltan Merszel named Dow’s President & CEO. |
| 1978 |
Succeeded by Paul F. Oreffice. |
| 1979 |
Dow developed “Dowex”. |
| 1980 |
Merrell Dow pharmaceutical formed. Dow sales exceed $10 billion. |
| 1983 |
First compact discs marketed. |
| 1985 |
“Seldane” antihistamine introduced. Dow introduces “Drytech,” super absorbant polymers. |
| 1986 |
Dow ranks as the world’s largest producer of thermoplastics. |
| 1987 |
Frank P. Popoff named president and CEO. |
| 1991 |
Dow establishes Corporate Environmental Advisory Council. |
| 1992 |
“Insite” constrained geometry catalyst technology developed. |
| 1995 |
W. S. Stravopolous named President and CEO. Sales reach record $20.2 billion. Marion Merrell Dow sold to Hoechst for $5.1 billion. |
| 1996 |
Dow enters the PET/PTA polypropylene business. |
| 1997 |
Dow formed Dow Agrosciences. |
| 1998 |
Dow exits magnesium business. Acquisitions remaining shares of Isopol in Latin America. Dow partners with Asahi Chemical to open SAL Petrochemical in China to market polystyrene. |
| 1999 |
Dow and Union Carbide Corp. agree to merger transactions where Union Carbide will become a subsidiary through tax-free, stock- for-stock transaction valued at $11.6 billion creating the world’s second largest chemical company with overall sales of over $24 billion. |
| 2000 |
In restructure, Michael D. Parker elected President and CEO. Cargill Dow introduces polylactide. Dow launches Dow XLA fiber. Dow wins National Award for Corporate Health and Safety. |
| 2001 |
Dow introduces new line of “FILMTEC” and nanofiltration products. Dow introduces UCAR DEGree deicing fluid. Dow invents a new Light Emitting diode material. |
| 2008 |
Dow announces $18.8 B acquisitions of Rhom & Haas. Kuwait Joint Venture cancelled. |
| 2009 |
Sales hit $44.8 billion. R & H acquisition completed. |
| 2010 |
Acrylics Torrance plant closure. |
| 2011 |
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