High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! American Cyanamid Company was a leading American conglomerate, which became one of the nation`s top 100 manufacturing companies during the 1970s and beyond, according to the Fortune 500 listings at the time. Founded by Frank Washburn in 1907, the company grew to over 100,000 employees worldwide, and had over 200,000 shareholders by the mid-1970s. Its stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACY.