Editing WD-40 (section)

== History ==
Sources credit different people with inventing WD-40 formula in 1953 as part of the Rocket Chemical Company (later renamed to the [[WD-40 Company]]), in [[San Diego]], California; the formula was kept as a [[trade secret]] and was never [[patent]]ed.<ref name=BarryObit/>

According to [[Iris Engstrand]], a historian of San Diego and California history at the [[University of San Diego]], Iver Norman Lawson invented the formula,<ref name=Engstrand2014>{{cite journal|last1=Engstrand|first1=Iris H.W.|title=WD-40: San Diego's Marketing Miracle|journal=The Journal of San Diego History|date=Fall 2014|volume=60|issue=4|pages=253–270|url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/sites/default/files/journal/v60-4/v60-4engstrand.pdf|access-date=March 7, 2017|archive-date=December 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222232703/https://sandiegohistory.org/sites/default/files/journal/v60-4/v60-4engstrand.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> while the WD-40 company website and other books and newspapers credit [[Norman Larsen|Norman B. Larsen]]. According to Engstrand, "(Iver Norman) Lawson was acknowledged at the time, but his name later became confused with company president Norman B. Larsen."<ref>{{cite web|title=WD-40 History – History and Timeline|url=https://wd40.com/cool-stuff/history|publisher=WD-40 Company|access-date=April 10, 2017|language=en|archive-date=February 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210000427/https://wd40.com/cool-stuff/history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Mercer2011">{{cite book
  |author=Bobby Mercer|title=ManVentions: From Cruise Control to Cordless Drills – Inventions Men Can't Live Without|url=https://archive.org/details/manventionsfromc0000merc|url-access=registration|access-date=June 28, 2013|year=2011 |publisher=Adams Media |isbn=978-1-4405-1075-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/manventionsfromc0000merc/page/181 181]–
}}</ref><ref name=BarryObit>{{cite news|last1=Martin|first1=Douglas|title=Obituary: John Barry, Popularizer of WD-40, Dies at 84|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/business/22barry1.html|work=The New York Times|date=July 22, 2009|access-date=February 26, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218043350/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/business/22barry1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> "WD-40" is abbreviated from the term "Water Displacement, 40th formula",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wd40.com/history/|title=WD-40 History &#124; Learn the Stories Behind the WD-40 Brand &#124; WD-40|website=www.wd40.com|access-date=November 7, 2020|archive-date=December 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209024004/https://www.wd40.com/history/|url-status=live}}</ref> suggesting it was the result of the 40th attempt to create the product.<ref name="latimes"/> The spray, composed of various [[hydrocarbon]]s, was originally designed to be used by [[Convair]] to protect the outer skin of the [[SM-65 Atlas|Atlas missile]] from rust and corrosion.<ref name="aboutus">{{cite web |title=Our History |publisher=WD-40 |url=http://www.wd40.com/about-us/history/ |access-date=April 20, 2011 |archive-date=June 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623152408/http://wd40.com/about-us/history/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="barrynytobit"/> This outer skin also functioned as the outer wall of the missile's delicate [[balloon tank]]s.  WD-40 was later found to have many household uses<ref name="latimes"/> and was made available to consumers in San Diego in 1958.<ref name="aboutus"/>

In Engstrand's account, it was Iver Norman Lawson who came up with the water-displacing mixture after working at home and turned it over to the Rocket Chemical Company for the sum of $500 ({{Inflation|US|500|1953|fmt=eq|r=-2}}). It was Norman Larsen, president of the company, who had the idea of packaging it in aerosol cans and marketed it in this way.<ref name=Engstrand2014/>

It was written up as a new consumer product in 1961.<ref>''Changing Times'' (pre-1986) 15.5 (May 1, 1961): p. 36.</ref> By 1965 it was being used by airlines including Delta and United; United, for example, was using it on fixed and movable joints of their DC-8 and Boeing 720s in maintenance and overhaul.<ref name=AEAT1965>{{cite journal|title=New Materials|journal=Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology|date=May 1965|volume=37|issue=5|pages=165|doi=10.1108/eb034021}}</ref> At that time, airlines were using a variant called WD-60 to clean turbines, removing light rust from control lines, and when handling or storing metal parts.<ref name=AEAT1965/> By 1969 WD-40 was being marketed to farmers and mechanics in England.<ref>{{cite news|title=New on the Market|work=Farm & Country |location=London|date=January 1969|page=72}}</ref> In 1973, WD-40 Company, Inc., went public with its first stock offering. Its [[nasdaq|NASDAQ]] stock symbol is ({{NASDAQ|WDFC}}).<ref>{{cite web
  |title=History
  |work=WD-40
  |url=https://wd40.co.uk/about-us/
  |date=January 2017
  |access-date=February 18, 2020
  |archive-date=February 18, 2020
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218205052/https://wd40.co.uk/about-us/
  |url-status=live
  }}</ref>