Company History      In 1879 high school drop out, George Eastman went to London to obtain a patent on his plate coating machine.  The company's success led to business man Henry Strong to invest money in the company.  It wasn't long before Eastman resigned from the Rochester Savings Bank to devote all of his time to his new company.  In 1883, Eastman announced film in rolls.  The following year, the company had given way to the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company.  In 1888, the Kodak camera put down the foundation that made photography available to everyone.  In 1889, the Eastman Company was formed.  In 1892 the Eastman Kodak Company of New York was formed, and in 1901 the Eastman Kodak Company of New Jersey was formed under the New Jersey laws.       In 1895 the Pocket Kodak Camera was produce.  It allowed people to view through a small window how many exposures remained.  In 1900 the famous Brownie Camera was introduced.  It sold for $1 and put everyone within financial reach of a camera.   In 1902, Kodak made the Kodak Developing Machine, which made it possible to develop film without using a dark room.      In 1942, Kodak revealed the world's first true color negative film, Kodacolor.  In 1951 the Brownie 8mm movie camera was revealed and in 1952 the Brownie Movie projector followed.  Company sales exceeded $1 billion in 1962 and Kodak film recorded John Glenn's reactions as he travelled through space at 17,400 miles per hour.      In 1984 Kodak introduced a full line of floppy disks and videotape cassettes while in 1986 Kodak placed their batteries on store shelves.  In 1989 sales took off when Kodak introduced the one time use camera.  In 1995 Kodak went world wide and exposed themselves to the public via the internet.  In 1998 and 1999 Kodak produced their scanners, printers, and digital cameras to the public.       From 1884 to 1919, George Eastman was treasurer and manager and served a president of the New Jersey company.  Eastman was named president of the New York company in 1919.  He served as chairman of the board of directors from 1925 until his death in 1932.      For more information about the history of Kodak and its founder George Kodak, visit the company's history page.