Bio
Most people credit Henry Ford with inventing the automobile. The fact is he didn't, but Henry Ford held many patents on automotive mechanisms. He is best remembered, however, for helping devise the factory assembly approach to production that revolutionized the auto industry by greatly reducing the time required to assemble a car
He was born in 1863. The story of Henry Ford is not of a prodigy entrepreneur or an overnight success. Ford grew up on a farm and might easily have remained in agriculture. But something stronger pulled at Ford's imagination: mechanics, machinery, understanding how things worked and what new possibilities lay in store. As a young boy, he took apart everything he got his hands on. He quickly became known around the neighborhood for fixing people's watches.
In 1888, Henry Ford married Clara Bryant and moves to an 80-acre farm in what is today Dearborn. Five years later their only child Edsel Bryant Ford is born. From 1891 to 1899 he was a mechanical engineer, and later chief engineer, with the Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893 he built his first internal combustion engine, a small one-cylinder gasoline model.
Ford Motor Company was founded on June 16, 1903. The first Ford, the Model A, was being sold in Detroit a few months later. When founded, Ford Motor Company was just one of 15 car manufacturers in Michigan and 88 in the US. But as it began to turn a profit within its first few months, it became clear that Henry Ford's vision for the automotive industry was going to work, and work in a big way. During the first five years of Ford Motor Company's existence, Henry Ford, as chief engineer and later as president, directed a development and production program that started in a converted wagon shop.
As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Company's beginnings were modest. The company had anxious moments in its infancy. Beginning in 1903, the company began using the first 19 letters of the alphabet to name new cars. The earliest record of a shipment of a Model A is July 20, 1903, approximately one month after incorporation, to a Detroit physician. With the company's first sale came hope—a young Ford Motor Company had taken its first steps.
In 1907, Henry Ford announced his goal for the Ford Motor Company: to create "a motor car for the great multitude." At that time, automobiles were expensive, custom-made machines. Ford's engineers took the first step towards this goal by designing the Model T, a simple, sturdy car, offering no factory options -- not even a choice of color.
He was born in 1863. The story of Henry Ford is not of a prodigy entrepreneur or an overnight success. Ford grew up on a farm and might easily have remained in agriculture. But something stronger pulled at Ford's imagination: mechanics, machinery, understanding how things worked and what new possibilities lay in store. As a young boy, he took apart everything he got his hands on. He quickly became known around the neighborhood for fixing people's watches.
In 1888, Henry Ford married Clara Bryant and moves to an 80-acre farm in what is today Dearborn. Five years later their only child Edsel Bryant Ford is born. From 1891 to 1899 he was a mechanical engineer, and later chief engineer, with the Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893 he built his first internal combustion engine, a small one-cylinder gasoline model.
Ford Motor Company was founded on June 16, 1903. The first Ford, the Model A, was being sold in Detroit a few months later. When founded, Ford Motor Company was just one of 15 car manufacturers in Michigan and 88 in the US. But as it began to turn a profit within its first few months, it became clear that Henry Ford's vision for the automotive industry was going to work, and work in a big way. During the first five years of Ford Motor Company's existence, Henry Ford, as chief engineer and later as president, directed a development and production program that started in a converted wagon shop.
As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Company's beginnings were modest. The company had anxious moments in its infancy. Beginning in 1903, the company began using the first 19 letters of the alphabet to name new cars. The earliest record of a shipment of a Model A is July 20, 1903, approximately one month after incorporation, to a Detroit physician. With the company's first sale came hope—a young Ford Motor Company had taken its first steps.
In 1907, Henry Ford announced his goal for the Ford Motor Company: to create "a motor car for the great multitude." At that time, automobiles were expensive, custom-made machines. Ford's engineers took the first step towards this goal by designing the Model T, a simple, sturdy car, offering no factory options -- not even a choice of color.