These days, Coca-Cola is an international brand. However, this mega-corporation started out in a single drug store in Columbus, Ohio in the late 1800s. It all began when John Pemberton created Pemberton's French Wine Coca, which he intended to be an alternative to morphine. When an alcohol prohibition was instituted in the region in 1886, Pemberton created a nonalcoholic version of his drink and the true history of Coke began.
Since then, the company has released over 20 different Coke-themed drinks. While some classics like Diet Coke have stuck around for decades, other more "experimental" flavors (we're looking at you Coke Cinnamon!) thankfully don't stick around for too long. In addition to the classic Coke line, the Coca-Cola company now owns more than 500 brands that mostly include other drink lines like Fanta and Sprite.
(Image via 3steph14, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Surachit, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
If you've been an elementary school student in the past century, there's a good chance that you're already highly familiar with Crayola crayons. The company is now most well known for its school and craft supplies, but, over the years, the company has dabbled in all sorts of art goods. The company got its start in 1885 as the Binney & Smith Company and focused exclusively on manufacturing pigments for paint.
However, the company quickly shifted focus on manufacturing arts and crafts items for home use. Despite being most associated with crayons, the company actually produced chalk and colored pencils before they got into the crayon business. Over the years, the company has mainly focused on acquiring other arts and crafts brands, but they do have one unusual brand in their portfolio—Silly Putty!
(Image via CC BY 3.0 via Wikipedia, Ed Welter, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
These days, Johnson & Johnson owns hundreds of different brands, but the company got its start in 1886 with a focus on manufacturing a single product—sterile surgical dressings for wounds. However, they quickly moved on to creating other products that mainly had to do with surgery and medicine. Since then, they've grown into a massive multinational corporation.
These days, the company has three main focuses—pharmaceuticals, medical technology, and home goods. While a majority of us are probably most familiar with the company's home good brands (like Neutrogena, Tylenol, and Listerine), that's actually the smallest part of their business, which is dwarfed by their revenue from pharmaceuticals and medical tech.
(Image via Ekem, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; Author Unknown, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The roots of United Airlines trace back to April 6, 1926, when Walter Varney launched Varney Air Lines in Boise, Idaho. Varney executed the first-ever scheduled contract airmail flight in U.S. history. Aviation pioneer William Boeing later acquired Varney, along with other early carriers like Pacific Air Transport and National Air Transport, to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) in 1929. The operation was officially branded as United Air Lines in 1931.
Throughout its century-long journey, the airline pioneered numerous industry firsts, including the introduction of the world's first trained flight attendants (then called stewardesses) in 1930 and the debut of the Boeing 247 in 1933, the first modern commercial airliner. Following decades of historic growth, including a massive 2010 merger with Continental Airlines, United remains one of the world's premier global carriers.
James Cash Penney opened his first namesake department store in Wyoming all the way back in 1902. Over the coming decades, he would expand his business into an empire of hundreds of stores across the country all known for selling affordable clothing. JC Penney was also responsible for the birth of another major American corporation—after working in a JC Penney location in the 1940s, Sam Walton was inspired to create his own line of stores, Walmart.
These days, JC Penney is still around, but they're not doing great financially. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 and was purchased by Brookfield Property Partners and the Simon Property Group. Hundreds of stores closed that year, and while COVID lockdowns didn't help them any, it's clear that the company is on shaky financial ground regardless of outside circumstances.
(Image via Bernd00, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons; Azt3r1x, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
We've all had more than a few shipping headaches thanks to UPS, but, love them or hate them, they must be doing something right because they've been around for more than a century! When they were founded in 1907, the company was known as the American Messenger Company, and they specialized in telegraphs. Seeing as the days of telegraphs are long gone, UPS eventually made the shift to parcel delivery.
When it comes to delivery companies these days, no one is more successful than UPS. With revenues of more than $85 billion in 2020, UPS remains the largest courier company in the world, beating out competitors like FedEx and DHL. Most recently, UPS acquired Roadie, a crowdsourced delivery app, in September of 2021.
(Image via Author Unknown, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; JasonVogel, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
Considering how many industries they're involved in, a name like "General Electric" is a bit of a misnomer these days. However, way back in the day in 1889, the company was focused exclusively on electrical goods and was even partially founded by Thomas Edison himself. In its early days, General Electric was a major funder for some of Edison's most important research.
Over the course of its history, General Electric has dabbled in business ranging from railways to venture capital firms. However, in 2021 made some major changes to the way they do business. In November of that year, GE announced that it would be divided into three companies that focused exclusively on healthcare, aerospace, and renewable energy.
(Image via EEJCC, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons; Horace L.Arnold, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Lockheed Martin officially turns 100 years old this year. It all started in December 1926, when brothers Allan and Malcolm Loughead teamed up with an inventor named John Northrop to start the Lockheed Corporation in Hollywood, California. Over the next several decades, this early version of the company became a powerhouse in American aviation history. They built famous airplanes like the sleek Lockheed Vega, the powerful P-38 Lightning fighter plane used in World War II, and top-secret spy planes.
In 1995, Lockheed joined forces with another big defense company, Martin Marietta, to create the modern-day Lockheed Martin. Today, it stands as one of the biggest aerospace giants in the world, and it all built upon that single foundation laid down a century ago.
No one does motorcycles quite like Harley-Davidson, and that should be no surprise considering that they've been in business since 1903. While the company may not have invented the concept of a motorized bicycle, there's no denying that it helped shape the industry from its infancy. By the beginning of World War I, the company had created several different highly successful motorcycle models.
These days, the company has expanded a bit, now offering Harley-Davidson apparel and home decor, but they've largely remained faithful to producing high-quality motorcycles. In 2021, the company recorded revenue that was upwards of $4 billion dollars. With that kind of money, they may very well be around for another 100 years!
(Image via User:UCIMBZ, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
When you think of planes, you probably think of Boeing, and there's a reason for that—they've been in the airplane business for over a hundred years at this point! William Boeing founded the Aero Products Company in 1916, and after a few years and a few name changes, his company became the Boeing that we know today.
In addition to producing airplanes, Boeing also manufactures rockets, satellites, and missiles and is currently the world's third largest defense contractor. The company took a hit when its 737 MAX model was involved in two plane crashes in 2018 and 2019, but they still reported an impressive $62 billion in revenue in 2021.
(Image via Maurice King, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons; University of Washington, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
L.L. Bean knows not to mess with success, which is why they've been in the business of selling outdoor gear since it was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. Although the company started in a one-room store selling only one product, they've grown over the years to expand to stores nationwide.
L.L. Bean remains a privately-owned company to this day, which is a rarity on this list, and they currently have 30 stores in the US, along with another 25 in Japan. In 2019, the company also announced plans to open stores in the United Kingdom. In 2019, they posted revenues of almost $2 billion.
(Image via Anthony22 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; US Government, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Love them or hate them, credit cards are big business, and Equifax is here to let you know just how terrible your credit rating really is! The company got its start as a credit bureau in 1889 as the Retail Credit Company and continued with this name until the 1970s. In addition to credit, the company also did well making reports for insurance companies.
These days, despite several recent data breaches, continues to be one of the top three credit reporting agencies in the world. However, their troubles continue. In August of 2022, it was revealed that Equifax had sent millions of incorrect credit scores to lenders, and they are now the subject of a class-action lawsuit regarding the inaccuracies.
There are lots of chocolate makers out there, but most people immediately think of Hershey's when they think of chocolate. This delicious company has been around since 1894 after Milton Hershey sold his caramel business to get into the chocolate world. By 1938, the company was producing not only its classic chocolate bar but also other long-time favorites like Mr. Goodbar and Krackle.
These days, the Hershey Company produces numerous top-selling chocolate and candy products like Kit-Kat, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Twizzlers, and PayDay. In addition to keeping customers happy all these years, Hershey's also produces milk chocolate for the US military. What they need with chocolate is beyond us, but they're getting the best of the best!
(Image via Maxim75, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Hershey Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Nikon got its start in Tokyo in 1917 after the merger of three Japanese optical lens manufacturers. Since its inception, the company has focused on not only the manufacture of lenses but also other equipment relating to cameras, binoculars, and microscopes. However, the company really achieved worldwide fame after the release of its Nikon F series camera in 1959.
Although Nikon is still around, the company has found itself in financial trouble in recent years, which is not unexpected as smartphones continue to replace personal cameras for picture taking. Though the company has attempted to refocus on other aspects of its business, the company has lost billions since 2015.
(Image via Phiarc, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons; NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Breakfast is big business, and Kellogg's has conquered the market—and then some! Their iconic corn flakes were developed in 1894 by the Kellogg family as they attempted to perfect the vegetarian diet that was served at the sanitarium they owned. In 1909, they started the company to sell the product, and in 1922 the company was officially renamed to the Kellogg Company.
These days, pretty much every breakfast cereal you find at the grocery store is manufactured by Kellogg's. In addition to their corn flakes, they also produce Frosted Flakes, Special K, Apple Jacks, and Raisin Bran just to name a few. They've also expanded into other food products, including Pringles, Eggo, and Cheeze-It.
(Image via Amazon; Kellogg's Company, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Smucker's is known for their line of fruit jellies, but, since its inception and into the modern day, they're a company that goes far beyond that. The company got its start in 1897 making apple butter but also quickly moved into the business of selling jams, jellies, and other preserves.
These days, Smucker's produces a lot more than you might realize, and not all of it has to do with food. The company's brands currently include grocery store staples like Folgers, Jif, Carnation, and even Kibbles 'n Bits. As of 2021, the company had a market value of more than $13.5 billi
No one knows luxury clothing like Neiman Marcus, and almost no one has done it longer than them either! The original store opened in Texas in 1907, and, while expansion was slow, the brand eventually grew to over 30 retail locations across the country. Interestingly enough, the founders of Neiman Marcus had the opportunity to invest in Coca-Cola in its early days, but they decided that their money would be better spent to build a clothing store.
Neiman Marcus has had some financial trouble in the recent past—they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April of 2020. However, by September of that same year the company had exited bankruptcy and been jointly purchased by several investment firms. These days, the luxury retailer seems to be on the rise again, and its financials are in a much better place.
(Image via Pi3.124, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Dfwcre8tive, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
American Airlines officially counts its origin date as April 15, 1926. On this day, legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh, acting as the chief pilot for Robertson Aircraft Corporation, flew a bag of U.S. mail from Chicago to St. Louis. Robertson was just one of more than 80 small regional carriers that were aggressively consolidated by holding company The Aviation Corporation in 1929 and 1930 to create "American Airways." Rebranded as American Airlines, Inc. in 1934 under the visionary leadership of C.R. Smith, the company made aviation history by collaborating with Donald Douglas to design the Douglas DC-3. Debuting in 1936, the DC-3 revolutionized the industry by becoming the first aircraft capable of turning a profit purely on passenger revenue rather than government mail contracts.
Over the next several decades, American shaped modern air travel by launching the first computerized airline reservation system (SABRE) in 1961, inventing the industry's first frequent-flyer program (AAdvantage) in 1981, and executing a massive merger with US Airways in 2013.
