Following is a timeline of the St. Louis,
Missouri-based company's history.
* 1901 - Original Monsanto founded as a maker of
saccharine by John F. Queeny and named after his wife, Olga Monsanto Queeny.
* 1920s and 1930s - Manufacturers sulfuric acid and
other chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are later
implicated in reproductive, developmental and immune system disorders.
* 1940s - Manufactures plastics and synthetic
fabrics
* 1960s - Establishes agricultural division with
focus on herbicides.
* 1962-1971 - Becomes one of principal companies
supplying herbicide known as Agent Orange to U.S. military for use in Vietnam
War. Agent Orange is later linked to various health problems, including cancer.
* 1976 - Commercializes Roundup herbicide, which
goes on to be a top seller around the world.
* 1982 - Some 2,000 people are relocated from Times
Beach, Missouri, after area is contaminated with PCB by-product dioxin. Critics
say a St. Louis-area Monsanto chemical plant was a source but company denies
any connection.
* 1994 - Wins regulatory approval for its first
biotech product, a dairy cow hormone called Posilac.
* 1996 - Introduces first biotech crop, Roundup
Ready soybeans, which tolerate spraying of Roundup herbicide, and biotech
cotton engineered to resist insect damage.
* 1997 - Spins off its industrial chemical and
fibers business into Solutia Inc amid complaints and legal claims about
pollution from its plants. Introduces new biotech canola, cotton and corn, and
buys foundation seed companies.
* 1998 - Introduces Roundup Ready corn.
* 2000-2002 - Restructures in deal with Pharmacia
& Upjohn Inc; separates agricultural and chemicals businesses and becomes
stand-alone agricultural company.
* 2002-2003 - Jury finds Monsanto plant in
Anniston, Alabama, polluted community with PCBs. Monsanto and Solutia agree to
pay $600 million to settle claims brought by 20,000 Anniston residents of PCB
ground and water contamination.
* 2003 - Solutia files Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
* 2004 - Monsanto forms American Seeds Inc holding
company for corn and soybean seed deals and begins brand acquisitions.
* 2005 - Environmental, consumer groups question
safety of Roundup Ready crops, say they create "super weeds," among
other problems.
* 2006-2007 - Buys several regional seed companies
and cotton seed leader Delta and Pine Land Co. Competitors allege Monsanto
gaining seed industry monopoly.
* 2008 - Acquires sugarcane breeding companies, and
a Dutch hybrid seed company. Sells Posilac business amid consumer and food industry
concerns about the dairy cow hormone supplement.
* 2008-2009 - U.S. Department of Justice says it is
looking into monopolistic power in the U.S. seed industry.
* 2009 - Posts record net
sales of $11.7 billion and net income of $2.1 billion for fiscal 2009.
Announces project to improve the living conditions of 10,000 small cotton and
corn farmers in 1,100 villages in India; donates cotton technology to academic
researchers.
Original document here
(Reporting by Carey Gillam;
Editing by Walter Bagley)