Chronology
| Year | |
|---|---|
| 1911 | Louis and Emory Upton founded the Upton Machine Company on November 11, 1911. With the financial aid of Lowell Bassford, they began to produce electric, motor-driven wringer washers. Soon after its founding, Lou Upton's younger brother Fred joined the company and was an integral part of the business.
Federal Electric ordered 100 machines, but a gear failed in the transmission of them. Louis Upton immediately replaced them at no cost to Federal Electric, who was so impressed with Upton's ethics, they immediately doubled their order. |
| 1916 | Sears, Roebuck & Co. began selling Upton manufactured machines under the "Allen" brand, one for $54.75 and a deluxe model for $95. |
| 1929 | Upton merged with Nineteen Hundred Washer Company of Binghamton, New York, taking the name Nineteen Hundred Corporation. |
| 1942 | Nineteen Hundred Corporation began converting all of its factories for war production. |
| 1946 | Nineteen Hundred Corporation begins manufacturing appliances for John Inglis and Company of Canada. |
| 1949 | First top-loading automatic washer sold manufactured for sale under Sears' brand. |
| 1950 | The Nineteen Hundred Corporation was renamed as the Whirlpool Corporation, and sold its first top-loading automatic washer sold under the Whirlpool brand. |
| 1951 | Establishment of the Whirlpool Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Whirlpool Corporation. |
| 1955 | Acquires Seeger Refrigerator Company and RCA's air conditioner and cooking range lines including ownership of RCA's Estate brand name. Company changes its name to Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation and began using the RCA-Whirlpool brand name until the mid-1960s. Whirlpool acquires appliance division from International Harvester Company. |
| 1956 | Opened a 100-acre (0.40 km2) administrative center in Benton Harbor, Michigan. |
| 1957 | The RCA Whirlpool Miracle Kitchen was introduced with an estimated 15 million television viewers. The company changed its corporate name back to Whirlpool Corporation. |
| 1962 | Won NASA's contract for the development of the feeding and waste systems for Project Gemini. |
| 1966 | Whirlpool drops the RCA name so the brand name becomes Whirlpool. |
| 1967 | Introduced a 24-hour helpline. |
| 1968 | Surpassed $1 billion in annual revenues. |
| 1978 | Surpassed $2 billion in annual revenues. |
| 1986 | Acquired KitchenAid, a division of the Hobart Corporation. |
| 1987 | Began selling compact washers in India and acquired majority interest in Inglis of Canada. |
| 1988 | Begins a joint venture with Philips called Whirlpool International with Whirlpool owning 53% of the company. The joint venture was formerly Philips' major appliance subsidiary. |
| 1989 | Acquired the Roper brand and Bauknecht of Germany.
Surpassed $6 billion in annual revenue. |
| 1991 | Whirlpool becomes full owner of Whirlpool International by buying Philips' 47% stake. |
| 1997 | Acquired majority stake on Embraco, a Brazilian world-leading maker of compressors for refrigeration. |
| 2000 | Acquired Brazilian appliance maker Multibrás, owner of the brands Brastemp and Consul, including its stake on Embraco. |
| 2001 | Inglis Ltd. changes its name to Whirlpool Canada. Whirlpool continues to market Inglis appliances to this day. Surpassed $10 billion in annual revenues. |
| 2002 | Surpassed $11 billion in annual revenues. |
| 2003 | Surpassed $12 billion in annual revenues. |
| 2004 | Surpassed $13 billion in annual revenues. |
| 2005 | Maytag Corporation shareholders voted to accept Whirlpool Corporation's stock purchase. U.S. Justice Department began a review of the merger.
Surpassed $14 billion in annual revenues. |
| 2006 | Acquired the Maytag, including the Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Jade, Magic Chef, Admiral, Hoover, and Dixie-Narco brands, after Justice Department approved the merger. Sold Dixie-Narco to Crane Co., and Amana Commercial to AGA.
Surpassed $18 billion in annual revenues. |
| 2007 | Sold Hoover to Techtronic Industries, TTI Floorcare. and Jade Appliances to Middleby Corporation. Also closed plants in Newton, Iowa; Searcy, Arkansas; and Herrin, Illinois. This resulted in the sudden loss of 4500 jobs in the affected communities.
Surpassed $19 billion in annual revenues. |
| 2008 | Location closings in La Vergne, Tenn; Reynosa, Mexico; and Oxford, Miss. Later the announcement of Dishwasher plant in Jackson, TN to close in August 2009 |
| 2009 | Whirlpool acquired WC Woods from Bankruptcy and to keep Ottawa, OH plant open; Whirlpool to close Evansville plant; Whirlpool has received $19.3 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding as part of its Smart Grid Investment Grant program |
| 2010 | Whirlpool announced plans for its 100th Anniversary in 2011 and unveiled its 100th Anniversary logo as well as an updated corporate logo. The celebrations shall take place in Benton Harbor, Michigan on 11/11/11.
Also, took over former KarstadtQuelle brand Privileg from Otto Group. |
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