GT

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co /oh/

A maker of tires for everything from family cars and commercial trucks to aircraft and race cars, Goodyear also runs auto service centers and is famous for its blimps that hover over big sporting events. Founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling in an abandoned strawboard factory in Akron, Ohio, the company was named to honor Charles Goodyear, the inventor of vulcanized rubber. Its first blimp, the Pilgrim, took flight in 1925 — and there are reportedly more astronauts in the world than blimp pilots.