Dyneon history

1946: 3M's stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

By its 50th year, it had surpassed the $100 million mark and was employing some 10,000 people. Its first public stock offering, coupled with its tremendous growth rate, attracted additional attention to 3M. Among the new products debuting in the immediate postwar period was Scotch magnetic audiotape, which was introduced in 1947.

In 1949, when President McKnight became chairman of the board (with A.G. Bush also moving from daily operations to the boardroom), it marked the end of a tremendous era for 3M. Under McKnight, 3M had grown almost 20-fold.

Sales growth also slowed during the decade, particularly in the oil crunch of 1974, ending 3M's phenomenal string of averaging a 15 percent growth rate.

1980: The company begins selling Post-it notes.

A major restructuring of European operations was completed in 1993: manufacturing plants were closed and consolidated and the workforce was trimmed in response to declining operating income.

In 1996, 3M dismantled the Information, Imaging and Electronics sector, which accounted for a fifth of its business.

But 3M's numbers began slipping again in 1998.

3M also reorganized into six business segments in 1999: Industrial Markets; Transportation, Graphics, and Safety; Health Care; Consumer and Office Products; Electro and Communications; and Specialty Material.

Highlighting the company's continued commitment to innovation, nearly 35 percent of revenues in 2000 came from products that had been introduced within the previous four years.

2001: GE veteran W. James McNerney, Jr., takes over as chairman and CEO, becoming the first outsider at the helm in the company's history.

Early in 2002 the company finally adopted its nickname as its formal moniker, officially becoming 3M Company.