In 1886, Robert Wood Johnson formed a new company with his brothers James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson. The company was founded in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
When the trio launched their fledgling company, they had one building and just 14 employees. They initially focused on the production of wound care products like bandages and sutures, and baby products.
Robert Wood Johnson served as the first president – the company became incorporated in 1887. A year later, J&J pioneered the first commercial first aid kits, which were initially designed to help railroad workers, but soon became the standard practice in treating injuries.
In 1888 the company produced two seminal products: a book called "Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment," the first mainstream guide to treating injuries, and innovative ready-made first aid kits based off the company’s cotton gauze dressings.
In 1898 the company is the first to mass produce dental floss to make it affordable so that people can take better care of their teeth.
In 1910 James Wood Johnson takes over the leadership of Johnson & Johnson until 1932. The younger Robert Johnson, who came to be known as "the General," had joined the company as a mill hand while still in his teens. By the age of 25 he had become a vice-president, and he was elected president in 1932.
In 1944, Johnson & Johnson became a publicly traded company and acquired a groundbreaking company which became Ethicon, for the production of sterile surgical sutures.
In 1959, J&J acquired McNeil Laboratories, maker of Tylenol and in 1961, acquired Janssen Pharmaceutica a German manufacturer of prescription medications.
Johnson & Johnson maintains operations in 60 countries, while its roughly 250 subsidiaries and their products are sold in more than 175 countries.
History of Johnson & Johnson
