Alcoa Corporation Overview

History

July 9, 1886

Charles Martin Hall discovers the smelting process.

Working with his sister Julia in a shed attached to the family home in Oberlin, Ohio, chemistry student Charles Martin Hall discovers a way to produce aluminium through electrolysis that drastically reduces its cost. Hall patents his process and an industry is born around the light, strong metal. Around the same time, the same process is discovered by chemist Paul T. Héroult of France, and it comes to be known as the Hall-Héroult Process. Today, the Hall-Héroult Process is the one method by which every aluminium producer in the world operates.

October 1, 1888

The Pittsburgh Reduction Company

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa founder Charles Martin Hall find experienced, hard-working visionary backers (led by Captain Alfred E. Hunt) for his aluminium reduction (electrolysis) discovery. The company is first incorporated as The Pittsburgh Reduction Company and opens a pilot production facility on Smallman Street. Hall hires his first employee, Arthur Vining Davis. Today, that same company is known as Alcoa.

1891

New Kensington: cradle of aluminium innovation

As demand for the new metal grows, Alcoa moves its operations from Pittsburgh to nearby New Kensington, PA, where it scales up to produce aluminium ingots as well as fabricated aluminium products. For many years, no other company in the world can catch up with the breadth and depth of Alcoa's aluminium production.

1895

The aluminium teakettle

The Pittsburgh Reduction Company, eager to open new applications and enter new markets, enters the home cookware market with light, sturdy, no-rust teakettles.

1901

Aluminium makes automobiles lighter and faster

New Alcoa alloys make aluminium a strong, machinable substitute for heavier metals in automotive design. This breakthrough leads to growth in fabricating lightweight aluminium bodies, drivetrain and engine castings, and other parts for automobiles at New Kensington.

1903

Wright Brothers

The world’s first flying machine is powered by an aluminium heart made from Alcoa’s new metal. To save weight, the engine block and crankcase of the Wright Brothers' historic "Flyer" are cast from aluminium supplied by The Pittsburgh Reduction Company.

1907

A new name

The Pittsburgh Reduction Company changes its name to The Aluminum Company of America. This will remain its legal name for the next 91 years.

1912

Alcoa opens in Europe

Alcoa established a presence in Europe through a bauxite partnership in Southern France. It is the beginning of what will become a global, integrated aluminium network.

Alcan is born

By 1928, Alcoa has over half of the world capacity in primary aluminium. In June 1928, the company transfers all international holdings, some 34 companies worldwide, to a new company called Aluminum Limited of Canada, which will be renamed Alcan in 1966 and become part of Rio Tinto in 2010.