Littelfuse was founded by inventor and entrepreneur Edward V. Sundt in 1927. Operating out of a modest workshop in Chicago, Illinois, Sundt pioneered the creation of the world's first small, fast-acting protective fuse designed specifically for delicate electronic testing equipment and radios. His early engineering innovations laid the permanent technical foundation for the modern corporation, transforming a localized workshop into a massive global leader in circuit protection, power control, and sensor technologies.