Bearings have a long and storied history, often used to build some of history’s most important structures. Read below for a brief history of the bearing industry.
2600 BCE – The Ancient Egyptians used a form of roller bearings to help move massive stone blocks during construction of the Pyramids.
40 BCE – Early example of a wooden ball bearing supporting a rotating table was retrieved from the remains of a Roman ship in Lake Nemi, Italy.
1500 CE – Leonardo da Vinci described a type of ball bearing.
1600 – Galileo describes caged ball bearing to prevent friction.
1794 – First patent for ball bearing by Philip Vaughn of Carmarthen, Wales.
1866 – The Torrington Company (under the name Excelsior Needle Company) signs Articles of Association to manufacture sewing machines needles and the machinery to produce the same.
1880 – Rockwell Automation (under the name DODGE Manufacturing Company) incorporates, two years after Wallace H. Dodge began the manufacture of wood hardware specialties.
1883 – Fischers Aktiengesellschaft (FAG) begins grinding balls of equal size and roundness forming the creation of an independent bearing industry.
1898 – First patent issued for Timken tapered roller bearings.
1907 – Sven Wingquist of Aktiebolaget Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF) invents the modern self-aligning ball bearing.
1912 – FAG originates single-row, barrel type, and spherical roller bearings.
1913 – Hoover Steel Ball Company is founded by Leander J. Hoover in Ann Arbor, MI.
1916 – Nippon Seik? Kabushiki-gaisha (NSK) inaugurated its business in 1916 and produced the first ball bearings made in Japan.
1917 – U.S. Bearing Manufacturers create an informal group to aid bearing manufacturing for World War I, which led to the founding of ABMA.
1927 – NTN Mfg. Co., Ltd. established with capital of 50,000 yen.
1928 – Fujikoshi Steel Industry Co, Ltd., (Nachi) was founded in Toyama City, Japan, to manufacture cutting and machine tools.
1933 – Articles of Incorporation ratified by United States bearing manufacturers to create AFBMA (Anti-Friction Bearing Manufacturers Association).
1934 – AFBMA is incorporated as an organization in the State of New York.
1960 – Elastohydrodynamic theory explains the mechanism of why bearings and gears work, leading to advances in grinding precision and ultrasonic equipment.
1969 – Three astronauts in a North American Rockwell “Apollo” spacecraft are launched by North American Rockwell rocket engines toward the moon.
1970 – Intel invents the microprocessor, providing consistent precision control of machine tools, which impacts both size and lifespan of bearings.
1980s – Torrington bearings are used in the space shuttle and robot arm to launch and retrieve satellites in orbit.
1992 – ABMA celebrates its 75th anniversary.
1993 – ABMA officially changes its name from the original AFBMA.
1993 – Leading bearing manufacturers from throughout the world meet for the first time in Key Largo, Florida.
2001 – The Schaeffler Group (INA) acquires FAG.
2002 – Timken Company acquires Torrington Company, expanding the global bearing market with a variety of bearing products including tapered roller bearings, needle roller bearings and alloy steels.
2006 – ABMA partners with the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) for joint meeting in Tucson, AZ.
2006 – ABMA, the Japanese Bearing Industrial Association (JBIA) and the Federation of European Bearing Manufacturers Association (FEBMA) create the World Bearing Association (WBA) to focus on issues affecting the global bearing industry.