Henry Ford Research Paper

Henry Ford was born on a farm on July 30th, 1863, in Michigan, USA. He had 5 siblings. As a child, Ford had a strong interest in engineering and would take things apart to see how they worked. In 1879, Ford left the family farm and went to train as an apprentice machinist in Detroit. This led to a job servicing steam engine. Henry Ford married Clara Jane Bryant in 1888. They had one child: a son, Edsel. To support his wife and family, Ford ran a sawmill. In 1891, Ford became an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company. He later met Thomas Edison himself, who encouraged Ford to study automobile engines and build vehicles. In 1896, Ford created the “Ford Quadricycle” his first self-propelled vehicle that worked, but there was one problem. He had built the vehicle inside his shop, and it was too big to fit through the door! Ford was not concerned. He simply cut through the wall with an ax to make the door wider, and he brought out his vehicle.

Ford founded the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899 to build his new vehicles but the business was unsuccessful and closed in 1901. The Ford Motor Company was created on June 16th, 1903, by Henry Ford and his acquaintance, Alexander Malcomson. In 1903, Ford broke the land speed record when he demonstrated his new car on the ice at Lake St. Clair. He drove 1 mile in 39.4 seconds. The car was named the ‘999’ and was toured around the USA by race driver, Barney Oldfield. Ford soon became a household name. In 1908, the famous Ford Model T was introduced. It was one of the first cars to have left-hand steering. All Ford Model T cars were painted black. The Model T was also known as the ‘Tin Lizzie’ and successful because it was easy to drive and cheap to repair. By 1914, Ford had sold over 250,000 Model T cars. In 1916, he reduced the price of the car to $360 (about $8000 in today’s money). By 1918, half of all cars in America