Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of gasoline engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large facilities in the U.S. and 8 more in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, and the Netherlands. The company's products are sold in over 100 countries across the globe. History In 1908, inventor Stephen Foster Briggs and investor Harold M. Stratton started an informal partnership to capitalize on the growing automobile industry. Eventually Briggs and Stratton settled on manufacturing automotive components and small gasoline engines. In 1919 Briggs & Stratton purchased the manufacturing rights for a small, simple two-seat vehicle with a gasoline engine called the Smith Flyer from the A.O. Smith Company in Milwaukee. The Flyer had a small gasoline engine mounted on a fifth wheel, or motor wheel. Briggs & Stratton made engine improvements that raised the horsepower and renamed the vehicle the Briggs & Stratton Flyer. The Guinness Book of Records lists the Flyer as the most inexpensive car of all time, selling at US$125 to US$150 (equivalent to $2020 to $2430 in 2021). In 1925 they sold the rights to the Flyer to Automotive Electric Services Corporation. Briggs & Stratton kept the motor that had been the heart of the motor wheel and adapted it to power other applications such as reel lawn mowers and small equipment such as washing machines. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1928. During World War II, Briggs & Stratton produced generators for the war effort. Some pre-war engines were made with aluminum, which helped the company develop its expertise in using this material. This development, along with the post-war growth of 1950s suburbs (and lawns), helped secure Briggs & Stratton's successful growth throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Stephen Briggs went on to purchase Evinrude and Johnson Outboards and start the Outboard Marine Corporation. Frederick P. Stratton Sr. (the son of Harold Stratton) served as Chairman of Briggs & Stratton until his death in 1962 (Harold also died that year). Frederick P. Stratton Jr. served as Chairman until his retirement in 2001. In 1995, Briggs & Stratton sold the automotive component business. The resulting company is Strattec Security Corporation. In 2000, the company acquired its consumer generator business from the Beacon Group and formed Briggs & Stratton Power Products. The Beacon