The company started in 1843 as the White Lead Company in Cincinnati, Ohio; it later became Eagle White Lead Works in the 1850s. A merger with the Picher Lead Company of Joplin, Missouri, occurred in 1906, becoming Eagle-Picher Lead, which evolved into Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc., and finally EaglePicher Technologies.
EaglePicher Technologies’ history as a battery manufacturer dates back to 1922. The company became a battery supplier to the U.S. Government in the 1940s and was supplying silver-zinc batteries for missiles and rockets in the 1950s. The company’s longtime heritage as an industry leader in battery production has resulted in the diverse line of products that exists today. In recent years, EaglePicher has strategically broadened its portfolio and technical expertise with the acquisitions of Yardney Technical Products, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 2014.
- 2019 - Awarded Black Shark heavyweight torpedo program
- 2019 - Names Rich Hunter as chief executive officer
- 2018 - Supplies high-power battery system for Navy Energy Magazine Laser
- 2018 - Powers Mars lander InSight
- 2017 - Awarded battery and charger system for Air Force SHiELD
- 2017 - Acquires Lithiumstart Inc.
- 2017 - Delivers High Energy Laser prototype for Apache
- 2016 - Powers OSIRIS-REx spacecraft
- 2015 - Rapid Innovation Funding awarded to develop Joint Strike Fighter battery
- 2015 - Awarded Navy Energy Storage System for HELIOS
- 2015 - Breaks ground on new Lithium-Ion Center of Excellence facility
- 2014 - Awarded Title III joint-development funding by the DoD for lithium ion batteries
- 2014 - Acquires Yardney Technical Products
- 2014 - FDA approves Contego lithium-ion battery for neuromodulation
- 2012 - Designs new carbon monofluoride (CFx) and manganese dioxide (MnO2) cells used in U.S. clinical trails
- 2011 - Supplies power to Mars rover Curiosity
- 2011 - Produces the first implantable leadless pacemaker battery
- 2010 - Powers Atlas launch systems
- 2008 - Receives FDA approval for miniature lithium-ion battery
- 2007 - Powers Mars lander Phoenix
- 2007 - Opens new state-of-the-art lithium-ion facility in Joplin
- 2004 - Develops first human implanted lithium-ion cell
- 2004 - First manganese dioxide (MnO2) cell qualified for implantable cardioverter defibrillators in Europe
- 2003 - Supplies power for the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity
- 2000 - FDA approves primary cell for implantable cardiac monitor
- 2000 - Delivers first lithium ion battery for military aircraft, the B-2
- 2000 - Acquires BlueStar Battery Systems
- 1998 - Provides primary power for the International Space Station
- 1995 - Created a new technologies division by combining its electronics division with its specialty materials division and directs its attention to creating power systems for space satellites
- 1991 - Powers first Tomahawk Cruise missile
- 1990 - Powers Javelin missile program
- 1981 - Powers Columbia shuttle launch
- 1976 - Powers first Patriot missiles
- 1976 - Purchase Elmac, a mining supply company and Pritchett Engineering, a precision machining company serving the petroleum industry
- 1973 - Acquires the Johnson Manufacturing Company, Faulkner Concrete Pipe and Plas Chem, an anticorrosion chemical company
- 1970 - Provides power solutions for safe return of Apollo 13 astronauts
- 1969 - Acquires the Ross Pattern and Foundry Company a manufacturer of aluminum castings for the automotive, electronics and aerospace industries
- 1966 - Changes name from the Eagle-Picher Company to Eagle-Picher Industries
- 1958 - Powers Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite in space
- 1952 - Acquires the Ohio Rubber Company of Willoughby, Ohio
- 1947 - Begins production of germanium, the first semiconducting material, essential to the invention of the transistor and the development of solid state electronics
- 1940 - Powers Navy torpedoes
- 1925 - Expands production through the purchase the Ontario Smelting Company of Hockerville, Oklahoma
- 1922 - Develops highly efficient lead batteries
- 1906 - Merges with the Picher Lead Company, of Joplin, Missouri, becoming Eagle-Picher Lead
- 1889 - Changes name to Picher Leads Co.
- 1876 - Picher Zinc Co. founded in Joplin, MO
- 1858 - Changes the name to Eagle White Lead Works
- 1843 - E. & S. J. Conkling Compnay founded in Cincinnati, OH