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Deere & Co

One of the world's largest makers of farm and construction equipment, this company builds John Deere tractors, combines, and precision-agriculture technology, along with construction and roadbuilding machinery like Wirtgen. It began when Vermont-born blacksmith John Deere forged a self-cleaning steel plow from a broken sawmill blade in 1837, solving the problem of sticky prairie soil. Its leaping-deer logo, used since 1876, is a visual pun on the founder's name.