Our History
The story of our enterprise begins, quite simply, in a family home in Newark, Delaware.
Our company founders, Bill and Vieve Gore, marked the new year — and their 23rd wedding anniversary — by establishing our first operations in their basement on January 1, 1958.
It was a big risk: Both in their mid-forties with five children — two in college — they gave up Bill’s salary as a senior research chemist to pursue a dream. A versatile material had captured Bill’s imagination. He saw great untapped potential in polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE, a polymer discovered by Roy Plunkett in 1938.
Fueled by an entrepreneurial spirit, Bill and Vieve explored new opportunities to improve lives and industries through materials science innovation.
Historical Milestones
From encouraging people to enjoy the outdoors in any weather to mending hearts and aiding scientists in discovering the origins of our universe, we have accomplished a lot in the last 65 years.
2024 - Envisioning the Future of Eye Care
Gore achieves the first human implants of our investigational synthetic cornea in a pilot study in Mexico City. The device could offer a new solution for corneal blindness when donor corneas fail.
2022 - Next Generation GORE‑TEX Products with ePE Membrane
Our first GORE-TEX Products featuring our ePE membrane launch. It's a key milestone in our responsible performance journey in our fabrics business, providing high-performing, durable products that are engineered for long product life.
2019 - Fuel Cell Innovation
Gore earns recognition for fuel cell innovation at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress.
2018 - Protecting Biologics
GORE® Improject Plunger unveiled. Provides the only option for silicone-free delivery of sensitive biologics.
2016 - Gravitational waves
GORE® High Flex Planar Cables played an important role in enabling astrophysicists in Italy and in the U.S. to detect gravitational Waves, the existence of which were theorized by Albert Einstein nearly a century ago. This work earned the scientists the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018.
2012 - Enhancing Communication for Air Travelers
GORE™ Cable-Based Antennas are introduced to provide internet access to passengers aboard commercial airplanes.
2009 - Ensuring a Good Game at Wimbledon
Architectural fabric woven from GORE® Fiber is used in the new retractable roof over Centre Court at London's Wimbledon tennis tournament.
2008 - Contributing to Mars Exploration
NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander arrives safely on Mars. GORE® Spaceflight Microwave Cable Assemblies help to transmit data required for the spacecraft to position itself for landing.
2004 - Taking Photos in Space
Gore Microwave Cable Assemblies (GMCA) help NASA communicate with and receive pictures from the Spirit and Opportunity spacecrafts on Mars. Gore also supplied cable assemblies for the rovers' radiofrequency subsystems.
2001 - Mending Broken Hearts
The GORE® HELEX Septal Occluder, used to treat congenital heart defects, is launched in Europe, Africa, Australia and South America.
1997
Advancing Guitar String Technology
Gore introduces ELIXIR® Strings, which dramatically improve string tone life and reinvigorate the market for coated guitar strings.
Minimally Invasive Medical Technology
Gore introduces its first minimally-invasive endovascular prosthesis, marrying ePTFE grafts with Nitinol stents
1995 - Future of Fuel Cell Technology
Gore introduces a membrane electrode assembly used in fuel cell technology.
1994 - Automotive Vents for Superior Performance
Automotive vents offer superior performance in exterior and under-hood environments, allowing components to breathe while resisting water and oil.
1993 - Equipping the Hubble Telescope
The COSTAR optics apparatus is developed for the Hubble Space Telescope with 11 sets of polyester insulated ribbon cable from Gore.
1990 - GORE-TEX Fabrics Proven in Antarctica
An international team traversing the continent of Antarctica wears GORE-TEX Outerwear. One explorer credits the fabric with saving his life.
1988 - Protecting Soldiers
Gore receives its first major orders for GORE-TEX Fabric for military personnel.
1986 - Introducing ePTFE Sutures
GORE-TEX® Suture launches in the United States.
1981
Outfitting the Astronauts
Gore fiber is used in space suits designed for astronauts on the Columbia, NASA's inaugural space shuttle mission.
New Medical Applications Launch
Gore launches its first medical ePTFE patch product, the GORE-TEX® Cardiovascular Patch.
1980 - Protecting First Responders
GORE-TEX® Barriers for firefighting turnout gear is introduced to protect first responders from excessive heat stress.
1976 - GORE-TEX Fabric Launches
Gore makes its first sale of GORE-TEX Fabric to Early Winters, Ltd. catalog, which advertises its GORE-TEX Rainwear as "possibly the most versatile jacket ever made!"
1975 - GORE-TEX® Vascular Graft
The first GORE-TEX® Vascular Graft is commercialized, launching Gore's medical business.
1973 - Cleaning the Air with Industrial Filtration
Gore's industrial filter bag business begins. Gore is the first to use expanded PTFE for filtration, pioneering membrane surface filtration to capture contaminants and other particles.
1970 - ePTFE Improves Wire & Cable Products
New high-speed coaxial cables, the first commercialized applications of expanded PTFE in electronics, are introduced for the computer market.
1969 - The Discovery of ePTFE
While experimenting with PTFE, Bob Gore stretches the material as rapidly as possible. Instead of breaking, as he expected, the expanded PTFE takes on new properties: strength, porosity and enhanced versatility. The watershed discovery dramatically expands Gore product offerings, opening the door to GORE-TEX Fabrics and other expanded PTFE products.
1969 - Products Land on the Moon
July 21: NASA’s Apollo 11 lands on the moon. Astronauts Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. and Neil Armstrong install seismographic equipment connected to the lunar lander with a small, lightweight cable manufactured by Gore.
Image Courtesy of NASA
1966 - Supplying NASA
Gore supplies cable for NASA’s Surveyor missions, the first U.S. effort to make a soft landing on the moon.
Image Courtesy of NASA
1964 - Groundbreaking Computer Relies on Gore Technology
Gore supplies cable for the groundbreaking and highly successful IBM System/360 mainframe computer, the first mass-produced digital computer. Gore is the sole supplier of the transmission lines interconnecting the system.
1963 - First Patent Awarded
The company earns its first patent. U.S. Patent 3,082,292 is issued to Bob Gore for the “Multiconductor Wiring Strip” known as MULTI-TET™ Cable. Bob Gore suggested this innovation to his father, Bill, while still a sophomore in college.
1960 - First Products Used in Space
Gore cables are first applied in outer space on the Telstar satellite launched by Bell Laboratories.
1960 - First Major Order is Received
The business remains focused on solving customer wiring problems with a variety of customized products and receives its first major order – 7.5 miles of insulated ribbon cable for the City of Denver.
1958 - Founding an Enterprise
January 1: Wilbert L. (“Bill”) and Genevieve (“Vieve”) Gore launch W. L. Gore & Associates in the basement of their home in Newark, Delaware to pursue their belief in the untapped potential of the polymer polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE. The enterprise’s first product is MULTI-TET™ Insulated Wire and Cable. The ribbon cable will be used most heavily in aerospace applications and the burgeoning computer industry.
