Kidde
Encyclopedia
Kidde, a brand and division of United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in the United Technologies Building in Hartford, Connecticut...

, is a business, or group of businesses, that manufactures and distributes fire detection and extinguishing
Fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...

 equipment.

History

The company was founded by Walter Kidde
Walter Kidde
Walter Kidde was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1897. He was the owner of the Kidde company which manufactured fire extinguishers....

 in 1917 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The founder was of Czech origin and unrelated to the Danish author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 Harald Kidde
Harald Kidde
Harald Henrik Sager Kidde was a Danish writer and brother to the politician Aage Kidde. He is best known for the novel Helten , which is one of the key novels in Danish literaturev . Kidde died of Spanish Flu in 1918...

.

The company grew rapidly during the 1920s and established a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 operation at Colnbrook
Colnbrook
Colnbrook is a large village in the unitary authority of Slough, in Berkshire, England. It is situated southeast of central Slough, east of Windsor and west of central London....

 in 1935 as its first overseas operation.

It was acquired by Williams Holdings
Williams Holdings
Williams Holdings was a major British conglomerate. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...

 in 1988 and in 1989 it merged with Graviner (another Williams Holdings business) to form Kidde Graviner. In 1993 it acquired Dunford Hepburn. It was demerged from Williams Holdings in 2000.

In 2005, Kidde was acquired by United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in the United Technologies Building in Hartford, Connecticut...

 and was combined with Chubb Security
Chubb Security
Chubb Security is an electronic security and fire safety business. It is owned by United Technologies Corporation.-History:The Company was founded by Charles and Jeremiah Chubb, who patented their Chubb detector lock in 1818. Apparently the Prince Regent accidentally sat on a Chubb lock complete...

, also a former Williams Holdings business, and several other brands to create UTC Fire & Security.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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