1957

• Anixter Brothers was founded by Alan
  and Bill Anixter.  
• The company made $300,000 in sales
  selling industrial wire and cable.

1960s

• In 1966, sales were $10 million.
• In 1967, the company went public on the American Stock Exchange.
• In 1968, Anixter wrote the Blue Book
  and had 700 employees.

1970s

• Anixter added CATV to its inventory.
• Anixter opened additional locations in the United States and Canada
• In 1972, Anixter opened its first European location, Anixter United Kingdom.
• In 1975, Anixter had 1,375 employees and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (AXE).

1980s

• Anixter sold its first BNC connectors, moving it into the data communications market.
• In 1980, Anixter had 2,000 employees.
• In 1985, Anixter employees increased
  by 25 percent to 2,500.
• In 1986, Anixter hit $650 million in sales.
• Acquired by Itel, a NYSE-listed holding company.
• In 1989, Anixter released the Levels program, the first written performance specification for data cabling systems. 

1990s

• Levels^TM specifications were renamed Categories by the TIA standards body.
• Anixter expanded to Latin America, Asia
  and the South Pacific. 
• In 1991, Anixter tops $1 billion in sales.
• Publicly traded name changed to Anixter International from Itel.
• In 1995, Anixter opened UL certified Interoperability Lab (currently Infrastructure Solutions Lab^SM) in Mt. Prospect, Illinois. Anixter is the only distributor to have
  such a lab. 
• In 1995, Anixter had 5,000 employees
• In 1998, Anixter acquired Pacer Electronics.
• In 1999, Anixter sold the integration business.
• In 1999, Anixter recorded $3 billion in sales.

2000s

• Anixter expanded into OEM supply chain market through a series of acquisitions
  and consolidations.
• In 2002, Anixter acquired Pentacon, a fasteners distributor, and also entered the security market.
• In 2003, Anixter acquired Walters Hexagon Group Ltd.
• In 2004, Anixter acquired Distribution Dynamics.
• In 2005, Anixter launched READY! Services 
• In 2005, Anixter acquired Infast.
• In 2006, Anixter launched Anixter University 
• In 2006, Anixter acquired MFU Holdings S.p.A. and IMS, Inc.
• In 2007, Anixter acquired Total Supply Solutions Limited and Eurofast, SAS.
• In 2008, Anixter acquired World Class
  Wire & Cable, Sofrasar SA Camille Gergen, Quality Screws de Mexico SA,
  and QSN Industries.
• In 2008, Anixter had 8,000 employees.
• In 2009, Anixter had 8,355 employees.

2010 to Current

• In 2010, Anixter acquired CLARK
  Security Products.
• In 2011, Anixter sold Aerospace Hardware division to Greenbriar Equity
• In 2012, Anixter acquired Jorvex, S.A.
• In 2012, Anixter had 8,200 employees.