Milestones: 1900 - 1920

1905 - Mr. Zimmer finishes school to become a Western Union telegraph operator, and on the same day agrees to become a splint salesman for a Warsaw, Indiana firm. During the next two decades Mr. Zimmer will prove to be a highly successful salesman and eventually become the company’s national sales manager.
1907 - Noted Swiss orthopaedist Fritz Steinman introduces a special “pin” around which external fixation devices may be built and through which traction may be applied.

Milestones: 1920-1930

1926 - Stainless steel, developed 14 years earlier, is introduced as a corrosion-resistant material for orthopaedic implant devices.

1927 - Mr. Zimmer, with fellow salesman J.J. Ettinger, decide to quit their jobs and form the Zimmer Manufacturing Company. They rent a building in Warsaw, Indiana.
1927 - With design refinements by Dr. C.F. Lytle and aluminum welding innovations by Raymond Zimmer, a cousin, the Zimmer line of 50 aluminum splints debuts at the American Medical Association meeting in May in Washington, D.C. The Zimmer splint becomes an immediate leader in its field.
1928 - Sir Thomas Fleming introduces the powerful antibiotic, penicillin.
1928 - Zimmer introduces the fracture bed, which uses an ingenious system of canvas straps to support the patient while the mattress is lowered to change sheets or bedpans.
1928 - Zimmer achieves sales of $160,000 in its first year.
1929 - Zimmer enters the international market when a Scottish surgeon orders $1,200 worth of splints.