Henry Ford was an American manufacturer who was born on July 30th, 1863. He lived with his family in Michigan and showed and interest in machines since an early age. At the age of sixteen he left his home and went to Detroit and began to work as an apprentice mechanist. He then worked part-time as an employee at the Westinghouse Engine Company and later on became an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company.
Later on in 1893 he got promoted to chief engineer at the company. Because of this he now had enough time and money to direct his attention and develop his own ideas. Cars at that time were not affordable to middle people so Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company and said “I will build a car for the great multitude”. People needed cheaper transportation and so Ford's idea was to produce a car that was of reasonable price, reliable and efficient. He did so, introducing the Model T. It was a great innovation, it was affordable so people could use it to go to work everyday. It was recorded that about 15,007,034 Model T's were sold during the next 45 years.
“There is no man living that can not do more than he thinks he can.”― Henry Ford
The Model T revolutionized transportation in American industry and Ford soon became the richest and best known people in the world. There was a great demand for the Model T's and by 1918 almost half of the cars in America were Model T's and so a large factory was opened in Michigan in 1910.
During most of his life, Ford make headlines both good and bad but the introduction of the Model T turned out to be a huge success. We can still see the effects of Henry Fords innovations because he changed the way people make cars. Ford cars are still sold today, he revolutionized manufacturing.
Bibliography:
“Henry Ford Changes the World, 1908,” EyeWitness to History www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2005). Web. 10.18.11 “The Life Of