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Colgate-Palmolive Company

A maker of toothpaste, soaps, and pet food, Colgate-Palmolive sells household staples like Colgate toothpaste, Palmolive dish soap, and Hill's Science Diet pet food in more than 200 countries. The company traces back to 1806, when English immigrant William Colgate opened a soap-and-candle shop in New York City, and took its modern name from a 1928 merger with the Palmolive-Peet soap company. A fun detail: Colgate introduced the first collapsible toothpaste tube in 1896, a packaging idea that shaped how the world brushes its teeth.