Henry Ford

1 Pages 305 Words

In 1896, a horseless carriage drove through the streets of Detroit attracting crowds wherever it went. The police tried to get the driver, Henry Ford, to get a license. This car was the first of many automobiles he would create.

Henry Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863. His mother died when he was only twelve years old. In the summer Henry helped on the farm, and in the winter he went to a one room school. Henry went around repairing machinery for no charge just to play around with it.

At the age of sixteen young Henry Ford was apprenticed to a mechanic, and worked for a watchmaker in the night. Next he worked in an engine shop setting up steam engines for farms. In 1884 Henry's father gave him his ranch. He got married and got settled down. After two years Henry went to work for the Detroit Edison Company.

Gasoline engines started to be popular, and Henry Ford was awed by them. He built his first gasoline engine in a small shed behind his house.

In 1899 Henry helped organize the Detroit Automobile Company. He wanted to make the automobiles at an affordable price so everyone could buy one. The company did not like the idea so Henry withdrew from the company.

In 1903 Henry organized the Ford Motor Company.

Henry Ford idea was to have mass production, and replaced men with machines anyway he could. He gave each person that worked for him one job so that they did it over and over again.


In World War I and World War II Henry Ford's company was one of the major producers of war material.

In 1904 Henry Ford gave the presidency of Ford Motor Company to his grandson Henry Ford II. He died at the age of 83 on April 7, 1947....