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International Harvester International Harvester began in the early 1830s when Cyrus Hall McCormick, an inventor from Virginia, finalized his version of a horse-drawn reaper. The reaper was demonstrated in tests in 1831 and was patented by Cyrus in 1834. Together with his brother, McCormick moved to Chicago in 1847 and started the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. In 1902, the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms merged together to create the International Harvester Company. On November 26, 1984, International Harvester agreed to sell the Ag division to Tenneco, Inc. Tenneco already had the subsidiary company, J.I. Case that manufactured tractors, but lacked the full line of farm implements that IH produced (combines, cotton pickers, tillage equipment, etc.) The truck and engine divisions remained and in 1986 Harvester changed their corporate name to Navistar International Corporation. Navistar International Corporation continues to manufacture medium- and heavy-duty trucks, military vehicles, school buses, and engines under the International brand name. Military History What began in 1902 as a company producing equipment for farmers and truckers was adapted in 1918 to produce military vehicles for World War I efforts. By 1941, when the U.S. entered World War II, Navistar, known as International Harvester Corporation at the time, shifted all of its product focus to military vehicles for the Allies. During World War II, International Harvester produced the M-series of military trucks that served the Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy as weapons carriers, cargo transporters and light artillery movement. The company earned a reputation for traversing sandy beachheads under fire, carrying overcapacity loads and spending months slogging through tough jungle conditions. Today, Navistar produces International® brand military vehicles through its affiliate Navistar Defense, LLC.
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