1886
Company founder Samuel C. Johnson purchases a flooring business and starts his own company in Racine, Wisconsin.
1888
Samuel C. Johnson develops his first paste wax floor care product, to help consumers care for and protect their homes.
1900
SC Johnson starts offering paid vacations, establishing itself from its very beginnings as a great place to work.
1906
Herbert F. Johnson, Sr., son of Samuel C. Johnson, becomes a partner and SC Johnson becomes a family company.
1914
SC Johnson establishes its first international company, in Britain.
1915
Samuel C. Johnson lays the cornerstone for the Racine YMCA, setting a standard for community leadership by the company.
1917
SC Johnson becomes one of the first companies in the United States to offer profit sharing for all employees.
1917
SC Johnson Australia founded.
1920
SC Johnson Canada founded.
1921
Herbert F. Johnson, Sr. founds a community fund to unite volunteer agencies - the precursor to the United Way of Racine.
1922
SC Johnson establishes the Johnson Mutual Benefit Association, which supports employee benefits, activities and more.
1927
In a speech, Herbert F. Johnson, Sr. summarizes our principles: "The goodwill of the people is the only enduring thing in any business."
1934
Despite the Great Depression, SC Johnson establishes a pension plan for employees - it's among early companies to do so.
1935
H.F. Johnson, Jr., leads the Carnauba Expedition 15,000 miles to Brazil in search of a sustainable source of wax for our products.
1937
SC Johnson Brazil founded.
1939
SC Johnson’s Frank Lloyd Wright-designed headquarters building opens in Racine, Wisconsin.
1945
Around 200 emploees serve in World War II; jobs were held for anyone who wanted to come back.
1946
SC Johnson Belgium and SC Johnson France founded.
1950
SC Johnson’s Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Research Tower building opens in Racine, Wisconsin.
1950s
SC Johnson operations founded in Germany, Mexico, the Philippines, Venezuela and Argentina.
1956-58
The Raid®, Glade®, OFF!® and Pledge® brands launch and go on to become trusted, household names.
1959
The SC Johnson Fund, Inc. is established to provide grants that support people, communities and the environment.
1960s
SC Johnson operations founded in Italy, South Africa, Switzerland, Chile, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Ghana, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kenya, Thailand and Costa Rica.
1963
As part of SC Johnson’s sponsorship of the 1964 World’s Fair, the company creates the Academy Award-winning documentary film To Be Alive!
1968
SC Johnson opens what will become the world's largest private, urban entomology research center to combat bugs and the diseases they can carry.
1970s
SC Johnson operations founded in Portugal, Nigeria, Colombia, Indonesia, Korea, Caribbean, Egypt and Taiwan.
1975
SC Johnson voluntarily and unilaterally eliminates chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) from our aerosol products, three years before the U.S. mandate.
1976
SC Johnson formally states our values in "This We Believe," which gives all employees a common understanding of our principles.
1979
After more than 40 years of doing so, SC Johnson formalizes its commitment to donate 5% of pre-tax profits to charitable causes.
1979
SC Johnson helps bring to life The Living Planet, a documentary that exposes people to the beauty of the natural world and the need to preserve it.
1980s
SC Johnson operations founded in Japan, Cyprus, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and China.
1980s
SC Johnson continues operating in South Africa, becoming one of the first signatories of the Sullivan Principles.
1985
SC Johnson opens one of the first corporate childcare centers in the U.S.; and it expands continually to ensure there's never a waiting list for employees' children.
1988
"People Who Care" launches and becomes a model organization for encouraging and arranging employee volunteerism.
1990s
SC Johnson operations founded in Ukraine, Malaysia, Czech Republic, Poland, India, Uruguay, Vietnam, Peru, Romania, Slovak Republic, Russia, Paraguay, Pakistan and Austria.
1990s
SC Johnson leads a national grassroots coalition to promote steel can recycling, resulting in over 5,600 communities recycling empty aerosol cans.
1992
SC Johnson acquires The Drackett Company, bringing Windex®, Vanish® and Drano® into our family of brands.
1998
SC Johnson helps The Nature Conservancy protect two reserves in Brazil's Caatinga ecoregion and create a local conservation organization.
1998
SC Johnson acquires the DowBrands business, adding Ziploc®, Saran™, Scrubbing Bubbles® and fantastik® to our family of brands.
1998
Sam, Fisk and Curt Johnson retrace the 1935 Carnaúba Expedition, reaffirming the company’s commitment to sustainability and adventure.
2000s
SC Johnson Maghreb founded in Morocco, Dominican Republic, and Hungary.
2001
SC Johnson develops the firsts-of-its-kind Greenlist™ process to evalutate raw materials based on their environmental impact.
2002
SC Johnson is the first consumer packaged good manufacturer to join the U.S. EPA's Climate Leaders program.
2003
SC Johnson acquires the household insecticides business of Bayer AG, adding Baygon® insecticides and Autan® repellents to our family of brands.
2004
SC Johnson helps develop the Base of the Pyramid Protocol™ in which companies and communities partner for mutual value.
2005
SC Johnson full acquires Karamchand Appliances Private Limited and its All Out® brand, becoming the world’s largest seller of liquid electric mosquito repellents.
2005
SC Johnson starts up our 2nd co-generation turbine, becoming the first CPG plant in the U.S. Midwest to produce nearly all our own energy through clean-burning technologies.
2005
SC Johnson is the first major consumer packaged goods company to partner with the U.S. EPA's Design for the Environment program.
2006
After years of searching, Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson and other members of his family find H.F. Johnson, Jr.'s original Carnaúba plane sunk in a bay in Papua, New Guinea.
2007
SC Johnson breaks ground in Racine, Wisconsin, on a new building by world renowned architect Lord Norman Foster; it will house the Carnaúba plane and honor the late Sam Johnson.
2007
Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson receives the U.S. Council for International Business's 2007 International Leadership Award.
2007
SC Johnson is recognized for using Green-e certified energy at Waxdale, our largest global maunfacturing facility.
2008
SC Johnson acquires a variety of firms including The Caldrea Company, maker of Mrs. Meyers Clean Day® products, and Soy Basics, maker of soy candle brands such as Soy Inspirations®.
2008
SC Johnson voluntarily begins working with suppliers to eliminate phthalates from the fragrances they provide for our products.
2008
SC Johnson opens its new European headquarters in the Swiss town of Rolle, Canton du Vaud.
2008
A 5-year deal to source nearly half the electricity for our Bay City, Michigan factory from wind power helps cut 29,500 tons of CO2 annually.
2008
The Johnson family takes the late Sam Johnson’s Carnaúba plane on its final flight before it will be displayed in the new building being constructed on the company’s Racine, Wisconsin campus.
2009
SC Johnson surpasses industry guidelines by launching an innovative and expansive ingredient disclosure program.