Henry Ford Biography and Quotes

Born: July 30th, 1863
Commemoration: April 7th, 1947
Nationality: American

84

Years Old

Famously Known For

Henry Ford was a famous industrialist and the founder of the Ford Motor company. He spearheaded the development of the first car that was affordable to many middle- class Americans.

Early Life

Henry was born on his parent’s farm in Greenfield, Michigan. His parents were William Ford and Mary Ford. Henry has four other siblings going by the names Margaret Ford, Jane Ford, William Ford, and Robert Ford. At an early age, he was gifted a pocket watch, which he dismantled and managed to reassemble it again.

Personal Life

On April 11, 1888, Henry Ford got married to Jane Bryant. The two had one child together: Edsel Ford.

Career

Henry Ford worked for the Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit in 1891 as an Engineer. After two years, he was promoted to the position of Chief Engineer. He saved enough money and started experimenting with his vehicle designs.

It was until 1896 that he managed to make a vehicle famously known as the Ford Quadricycle. He proceeded in 1898 to make a second vehicle with the support of Thomas Edison.

In 1899, he formed the Detroit Automobile company after resigning from Edison Company.

After two years, he dissolved the company due to its inability to make any remarkable progress. It was until 1908 that Ford was able to design a car that even other companies copied. His cars were seen as affordable yet classy.

He worked with different car dealers and publicity that made sure that the car was available in almost every state in North America. By 1914, the company had sold more than 250,000 units of cars. By 1914 Ford had almost doubled its sales numbers as the car was in high demand.

He continued improving his car models with time, and he went ahead to buy the Lincoln Motor Company.