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1931: Arthur Collins opens Collins Radio Company in the basement of his home with one employee
1933: Incorporation as Collins Radio Company (September 25) under the laws of Delaware; the Company moves to a sub-floor in the Metropolitan Building at 2920 First Avenue, Cedar Rapids, telephone 2-0016,
(Collins Signal, February 1933)
1934: The Byrd Antarctic Expedition II sails with complete Collins short wave broadcasting station aboard,
(Collins Signal, January 1934)
1935: The factory portion of Collins moves to 7th and First Avenue, Cedar Rapids
1936: The Radio Corporation of American (RCA) accuses Collins Radio of patent infringement in the use of oscillator tubes in Collins transmitters, (Cedar Rapids Gazette article, 12 December 1965)
1937: The factory moves back to 2920 First Avenue, Cedar Rapids
1938: Patent licenses were secured from RCA and AT&T on favorable terms,
(Company speech given by Art Collins to the Underwriters? Representatives, 1 November 1944)
1940: The first section of what is now called Main Plant was built at 855 - 35th Street, Cedar Rapids,
(Collins Column, May 1946, Issue XXXVIII)
1942~: Collins Employees Credit Union established
Note: Until 1942, no women had been employed in the factory, (Collins Column, May 1946, Issue XXXVIII)
1943: Factory employees accept the American Federation of Labor as their bargaining unit
1946: Collins built and began production in a site at Burbank, California,
("The Collins Story" by Arlo C. Goodyear, 14 October 1954)
1950: Collins built a production site in Dallas, Texas, ("The Collins Story" by Arlo C. Goodyear, 14 October 1954
1953: Collins built the C Avenue complex "in the shadow of the WMT-TV tower",
("The Collins Story" by Arlo C. Goodyear, 14 October 1954).
The building cost $2 million on 52 acres of land,
("Collins and the Electronic Beanstalk" article by Nancy Gibbons Zook, 1956)
1955: Acquired Communications Accessories Company in Kansas City, Missouri,
("Collins and the Electronic Beanstalk" article by Nancy Gibbons Zook, 1956)
1961: Collins' Western Division moves from Burbank to Newport Beach, California,
("Collins History is Record of "Firsts" Orange County Industrial News, 1961)
1968: Collins Radio had one of the wildest swinging stocks; in 1958 it sold under $11, in 1960 it was $72; in 1964 it was back to $15; and in 1968 it sold over $100, ("Who Needs A Degree" Forbes, January 1968)
1969: Electronic Data System (EDS); at the time a small Texas company headed by Ross Perot, tendered an offer to buy 51% of Collins in an attempt to take over Collins Radio; by May, EDS withdraws its offer; discussions with Honeywell emerged, which later collapsed
1971: Collins Radio Company merges with Rockwell International Corp.; After the merger, Arthur serves on the Board of Directors
1972: Robert C. Wilson named President & Chief Executive Officer of Collins Radio Company; Art Collins leaves Collins Radio to form Arthur A. Collins Consulting, Inc.
1982: Art Collins receives the Pioneer Award from the Aerospace & Electronics Systems Society of the IEEE
1996: Consolidation of Collins Commercial Avionics (CCA), Collins Avionics and Communications Division (CACD), and the Dallas, Texas-based Communication Systems Division (CSD) into one organization,
(January 1997 Millennium article)
1997: Collins buys Hughes-Avicom and enters the in-flight entertainment market
1998: Collins sells Railroad Electronics to WABCO, (August 1998 press release)
1999-2000: Company-wide integration of SAP, (April 1998 Millennium article)
2000: Collins buys Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics, (October 2000 press release)
2001: Rockwell International Corp. spins-off Rockwell Collins, Inc. as independent, public traded, company
2018: Rockwell Collins, Inc. is merged with United Technologies Corporation (UTC) to form Collins Aerospace.
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