The company was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1908 and today is based in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Briggs and Stratton engines are very commonly used on lawnmowers, as well as karts, pressure washers, wood chippers, electrical generators, etc. Their engines are known for their durability and low maintenance requirements.

The company started in 1908 as an informal partnership between Stephen Foster Briggs and Harold M. Stratton. The original intent of the founders was to produce automobiles. In 1922 the company set a record in the automotive industry, selling the lowest-priced car ever, the Briggs & Stratton Flyer (also called the "Red Bug"), at only US$125-US$150.

Eventually the company settled on automotive components and small gasoline engines. Briggs purchased an engine patent from AO Smith Company and began powering early washing machines and refrigerators. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1928.

During World War II, Briggs and Stratton produced generators for the war effort. The generators and the engines were made with aluminum, a major advancement for small engines. This development, along with the post-war growth of 1950s suburbs (and lawns), helped secure Briggs and Stratton's successful growth in the 1950s and 1960s.

Stephen Briggs went on to purchase Evinrude and Johnson Outboards and start the Outboard Marine Corporation. Harry Stratton served as Chairman until his death in 1962.

In 1995, Briggs & Stratton spun out the automotive component business. The resulting company is Strattec Security Corporation.

In 2003, the company acquired its consumer generator business from the Beacon Group and formed Briggs & Stratton Power Products. The Beacon Group had previously purchased the Consumer Products Division of Generac Corporation (now Generac Power Systems) in 1998. In 2005, the company added Simplicity Manufacturing Inc, Snapper, Inc, and Murray, Inc to the Briggs & Stratton Power Products line.

Briggs & Stratton innovations

The Aluminum Engine - This was introduced in 1953 as a means of having a lighter-weight engine for applications such as lawn mowers or string trimmers. It was improved five years later in 1958 with the introduction of the Kool-Bore (all aluminum) and Sleeve-Bore (aluminum, with a cast iron cylinder liner).;

Easy-Spin Starting - This was introduced in 1961 as a means of cutting in half the effort of manually starting an engine. This had replaced all means of starting on all B&S engines except for electric start systems.;

But in 1982, as new federal safety regulations required every small engine manufacturer to add emergency shut-off switches to lawn mower applications, company engineers discovered that engines with the Easy-Spin intake were unacceptably difficult to restart. The Easy-Spin was moved to the exhaust valve, but this move presented mediocre horsepower ratings. Where that was an issue, a mechanical compression release was used. The intake valve Easy-Spin had continued to be used on B&S's larger engines, but was shelved in 1997 due to new emission regulations.