Now a part of the Stanley family of tool companies that includes Craftsman, Black & Decker was founded in Baltimore in 1910. Its first contribution to the growing power-tool industry came in 1917, when the firm patented a 1/2-inch, portable electric drill with a pistol grip and trigger switch that activated the device. Even though the wars of the currents, fought between proponents of AC and DC, had long been settled, Black & Decker's first...Continue Reading