The WD-40 reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004
(provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

WD-40

Why not sponsor a child for Christmas in 2008?
WD-40 is the trademark of a widely-used penetrating oil (cleaner, lubricant and anti-corrosive solution) developed in 1953 by Norm Larsen, then working for the Rocket Chemical Company. It stands for "Water Displacement, 40th attempt", but it is not technically an acronym, as the letters of the abbreviation do not spell out a word in conventional English orthography. The product was first on store shevles in 1958.

In 1961, the Rocket Chemical Company renamed itself as WD-40- then its only product. The WD-40 company still has its corporate offices in San Diego, California. It now markets its products in more that 160 countries around the globe. In 2003, it recorded sales of $238.1 million. The company went public in 1963. Its NASDAQ stock symbol is WDFC.

At one time there was for sale in Mexico a knock-off called "WB-50" whose name apparently had no meaning other than to mark it as an alternative to WD-40.

External link


This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.