| 1869 | Westinghouse air brake is patented. |
| 1869 |  Westinghouse air brake proves itself in the first emergency stop in railroad history, and 23-year-old George Westinghouse founds Westinghouse Air Brake Company (later WABCO). |
| 1870 | Manufacturing operations at Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Pittsburgh (USA) begin. Thanks to the Westinghouse air brake, locomotive engineers are given complete control of the train’s braking system, and valuable time previously spent signalling brakemen is saved. |
| 1871 | Westinghouse air brake becomes accepted by most US railway companies. Self-made railroad entrepreneur John Devereaux lobbies for its use: “We can rely upon it with a sense relief that only can be known to those who are responsible for human life and property.” |
| 1872 | A Belgian railway company is the first non-US air brakes customer. Air brakes gradually become standard worldwide. |
| 1881 | Westinghouse Air Brake Company formed in England. |
| 1884 | German operations opened in Hanover, Germany. Global expansion continues in the following decades. |
