Ford

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company. He was one of the first to apply assembly line manufacturing to the production of affordable automobiles. more...

He not only revolutionized industrial production in the United States and Europe, but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society that his combination of mass production, high wages and low cost is called "Fordism." He became one of the two or three richest men in the world, leaving nearly all of his wealth to the Ford Foundation, but keeping control of the company in his family's hands through a special class of voting stock.

Early life

Ford was born on a prosperous farm in Springwells Township (now in the city of Dearborn, Michigan) owned by his parents, William Ford (1826-1905) and Mary Litogot (c1839-1876), immigrants from County Cork, Ireland. The Ford family has its origins in western England - the family was evicted from their land in Somerset and 'planted' in Ireland. His siblings include: Margaret Ford (1867-1868); Jane Ford (c1868-1945); William Ford (1871-1917) and Robert Ford (1873-1934).

During the summer of 1873, Henry saw his first self-propelled road machine, a stationary steam engine that could be used for threshing or to power a saw mill. The operator, Fred Reden, had mounted it on wheels connected with a drive chain. Henry was fascinated with the machine and Reden over the next year taught Henry how to fire and operate the engine. Ford later said, it was this experience "that showed me that I was by instinct an engineer."

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