Photochromatic Lenses

If you have ever taken advantage of eyeglasses that darken and brighten in response to light, thank Corning’s Dr. S. Donald Stookey. Stookey, who also invented Pyroceram® and Corning Ware®, helped develop photochromatic lenses, which were sold as the popular PhotoGray™ and PhotoBrown™ lenses in the 1970s.

Concert at Lincoln Center

Corning Glass Works sponsored the opening night concert at Lincoln Center in September 1962. Conducted by Leonard Bernstein, the concert drew a packed audience of 3,000, while 26 million more watched at home.

Photovoltaics

Corning’s thin-film photovoltaic glass for solar-energy applications is barely thicker than a dime. Despite its thinness, this glass resists breakage through sustained winds of 81 mph (130 kph) and gusts up to 115 mph (185 kph).

Corning Radio Show

To boost employee morale during World War II, Corning sponsored a local radio show called the Corning Glass Works Radio Family Party. The show was hosted by Howdy Doody creator “Smiling Bob” Smith, and regularly featured the Corning Glass Works Glee Club.

Jesse & Bessie Littleton

A young physicist named Jesse Littleton joined Corning in 1913, and quickly became interested in Corning’s new heat-resistant Nonex glass. Littleton had a hunch that the glass would work well for cooking, and asked his wife Bessie to bake a cake in a sawed-off battery jar made from the glass. The Littletons’ successful experiment was the inspiration for the PYREX® line of cookware.

Fallbrook Plant

Corning’s Fallbrook plant (now closed) was named for the railroad that had used the site for its roundhouse and maintenance shops.

Rockefeller Center Sculptures

In 1932, the architects planning Rockefeller Center engaged Corning to work with sculptors Lee Lawrie and Attilio Piccirili to create glass panels for display above the entrances to three of the center’s main buildings. The largest, above the RCA building, was 15 by 50 feet and weighed 13 tons. George McCauley, Corning’s expert at casting telescope mirror blanks, led the project.

Clean Air Products

Since 1975, Corning clean air products have helped reduce pollutants globally by more than three billion tons.

S.C. Johnson R&D Center

The S.C. Johnson R&D Center, built in 1950 as a showcase for the use of glass in architecture, features more than 20 miles of PYREX® glass tubing in its interior and exterior construction. To provide glass long enough to meet architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s needs, Corning joined tubes using the new electroseal process that the company developed to vacuum-seal television bulbs.

Subaru Telescope Mirror

Corning built the Subaru telescope mirror that is used at the Japanese National Astronomical Observatory. The mirror is 27 feet in diameter and required several years of polishing.

Charles DeVoe

Corning scientist Charles DeVoe found a way to produce larger volumes of high-quality glass in less time. In 1944, he ran an electric current through molten optical glass and discovered that the process allowed for up to 100 pounds of consistent, usable glass to be produced each hour. DeVoe’s discovery led to methods that are still used today.

Boundless Vision

A sculpture entitled “Boundless Vision,” created by artist Eric Hilton, was dedicated to Corning employees around the world during the company’s 150th anniversary celebration in 2001. The Steuben Glass sculpture remains on display in the Corning Headquarters lobby.

1939 World’s Fair

Corning had a significant presence at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. Corning Glass Works made the component parts for many products on display, including the cathode-ray tube for RCA's television and the PYREX® that lined the time capsule buried by Westinghouse.

Security During War

Due to the military’s many uses for glass, Corning took additional security measures to defend the company against German bomber attacks or domestic sabotage during World War II. Although no attacks materialized, it was later reported that a 1942 Nazi plan had called for the bombing of Corning Glass Works.

Dr. Lucy Maltby

Dr. Lucy Maltby, a Corning native, organized Corning’s consumer products test kitchen in the 1930s and led the company’s department of home economics for 30 years. Maltby corresponded with consumers extensively and helped incorporate their preferences into the design of Corning products during that time.

Corning Optical Fiber

Due to the growing popularity of the Internet in the late 1990s, Corning developed the world’s first large-effective-area, non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber (NZ-DSF) for long-haul networks, Corning® LEAF® fiber. This technology could carry more information across longer distance and at lower cost than traditional fibers, making it the most widely deployed NZ-DSF fiber in the world.

The Knoll

The Knoll, a Corning landmark overlooking the town from the Southside Hill, was originally home to Alanson Houghton. Architect Howard Greenley designed the house, with its impressive two-story library, in 1916. The historic home, now owned by Corning Incorporated, is a stately setting for meetings and conferences.

Dr. George Beall

The first Corning scientist to reach the 100-patent milestone was Dr. George Beall in 2004. His career spans four decades and includes the discovery of glass-ceramic materials used in such Corning products as Macor® machineable glass-ceramics, Pyroceram® commercial tableware, and Visions® cookware.

Gen 10 Glass

At approximately 2.9 meters by 3.1 meters (approximately 9 feet by 10 feet), a single sheet of Gen 10 glass can produce 28 32-inch LCD TV panels or 15 42-inch panels.

Flood Response

After the flood of 1972, Corning had to write paychecks by hand, and many employees were paid in scrip – a substitute for common currency when it’s unavailable. Local merchants agreed to accept the scrip in exchange for goods.

Corning “Six Pack”

When Jamie Houghton became Chief Executive Officer of Corning in 1983, he implemented a new decision-making unit, consisting of himself and five other leaders. Formally, the group was called the “management committee,” but became known internally as “the six pack.” Although the number of management committee members has varied over the years, Corning continues to practice a collaborative style of management.

The Gaffer

In the 1940s, Corning produced a magazine called The Gaffer, which was distributed to employees to maintain a sense of community. Corning continues to make employee communications a priority today through channels such as Corning World Online and Corning World Broadcast.

Messware

Corning developed strengthened tableware for the use in military mess halls during World War II. Many of these products went on to become popular in American households after the war.

Wilmington, N.C. Plant

Corning opened the world’s first optical fiber manufacturing facility in Wilmington, N.C. in 1979.  Today, it is the world’s largest optical fiber manufacturing plant. Corning also has optical fiber plants in Concord, N.C. and Shanghai, China.

Corning® Synthemax™ Surface

The Corning® Synthemax™ Surface for the growth and differentiation of stem cells provides scientists more biologically relevant information, that may open the door to potential therapies for the treatment of degenerative diseases.

Nonex

In the early 1900s, Corning scientists William Churchill and George Hollister developed Nonex (or CNX), short for Corning nonexpansion glass. The glass, able to withstand dramatic temperature changes, was used in railroad signal lanterns. Churchill would go on to work with the Railroad Signal Association (RSA) to develop a set of ideal colors that would later become the RSA national standard.

Vapor Deposition Process

In the 1950s, under secret contract, Corning made electronic delay lines that would be used to detect Soviet missiles in northern Canada. These lines used Corning’s patented fused-silica vapor deposition process, which is the foundation of numerous specialized technologies including sophisticated telescope mirrors, space shuttle windows, and optical fiber.

Vello Process

In 1897, Arthur Houghton received a patent for a process to pull glass tubing vertically, avoiding the problems associated with twisting when pulling tubes horizontally. The process was so successful that Corning Glass Works built a 187-foot tower specifically for that purpose. Today, the tower is no longer in use, but remains an iconic landmark in Corning, N.Y.

Environmentally Friendly Buildings

The U.S. Green Building Council has certified two of Corning’s New York facilities with one of the nation’s highest designations for environmentally friendly buildings. Corning’s Decker building, which houses the company’s engineering team, and the Corning Children’s Center were both recognized for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design in 2009.

Pittsburgh-Corning’s Foamglas®

Pittsburgh-Corning’s Foamglas® – 33 percent lighter and more buoyant than cork – was used in wartime for life preservers, life rafts, submarine gear, and war plant roofs.

A Day Made of Glass

Corning’s viral video, “A Day Made of Glass,” which depicts Corning’s vision for the future of glass technology, was viewed more than seven million times in its first month on YouTube, and surpassed 14 million views in its first 6 months.

Elias Hungerford

Corning businessman Elias Hungerford first contacted Brooklyn Flint Glass Works with a concept for producing glass window blinds. Though the idea never took flight, talks about the blinds led to further discussions on available resources near and railroad accessibility to Corning. These talks led the company’s move to Corning, N.Y., Hungerford’s hometown, in 1868.

Corning HQ Sculptures

Corning’s current headquarters building was designed by architect Kevin Roche, and includes an abstraction of the Robertson ventilators common to hot-glass manufacturing plants. The building’s interior features seven two-story atriums, each displaying commissioned glass sculptures by artists including Peter Aldridge, Dale Chihuly, and husband-and-wife team Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova.

World War II Effort

Over the course of World War II, Corning initiated 174 research and development projects directly linked to the war effort.

Nutrisearch

In 1982, Corning made one of its earliest forays into biotechnology with Nutrisearch, a joint venture with the Kroger food chain. Nutrisearch processed byproducts of Kroger’s dairy operations into commercial food products such as sweeteners, which were used in Kroger’s bakeries.  Today, biotechnology is an important part of Corning’s business, as the company develops innovative tools for drug-discovery.

Hale Telescope Mirror Transport

Railroads transporting Corning’s Hale Telescope mirror blank from New York to California limited speeds to 25 mph and only traveled during the daylight hours. Onlookers in cities along the route flocked to see the 200-inch, 20-ton disk.

Pittsburgh Corning

In 1937, Corning joined forces with Pittsburgh Plate Glass to form Pittsburgh Corning, builder of glass blocks and other construction materials made of Corning’s revolutionary PYREX®.

Radio Vacuum Tubes

Corning’s Ribbon Machine, which revolutionized the production of electric light bulbs, was also used to mass produce radio vacuum tubes. This helped reduce the cost of radio components and, in turn, lowered the average cost of radios from $133 to $35.20 between 1929 and 1932.

Dr. S. Donald Stookey

Corning scientist Dr. S. Donald Stookey invented glass ceramics in 1957. This extremely strong material, which could stand up to dramatic changes in temperature, was used to make Corning Ware®, one of the most successful and best-known products in Corning’s history.

Glass Tubing

The rising popularity of neon signs during the Roaring Twenties created significant demand for Corning’s glass tubing. The company produced 350,000 pounds of glass tubing each year between 1924 and 1928. The amount skyrocketed to 850,000 pounds by the end of 1928.

Corning on the NYSE

Corning’s NYSE ticker symbol GLW comes from “Corning Glass Works,” the name of the company from 1875 to 1989.

Journey to Corning, N.Y.

When the Brooklyn Flint Glass Works moved to Corning, N.Y. in 1868, canal boats took the long journey from Brooklyn, hauling furnaces, pots, blowpipes, molds, and more. The boats were towed up the Hudson River to Albany and poled west to the Seneca Canal via the Erie Canal. The boats then headed south toward Geneva and entered Seneca Lake, leading them to Watkins Glen. From Watkins Glen, boats floated into the Chemung Canal southbound to Horseheads. At this point, the boats met with the Fedeer Canal to Gibson. They finished their journey by poling upstream to Corning, and docking at Pine Street.

This information is current as of February 2012.