Timeline of Henry Ford and Ford
Motor Company Milestones
1863: On July 30th, Henry Ford was born on a farm in Springwells Township, near
1879: Henry Ford took his first job at the Michigan Car Company which manufactured railroad cars.
1892: Due to his job at Edison Illuminating Company, he & his wife moved to
1896: June 4, 1896, he succeeded in demonstrating his home built internal combustion engine by running his first
car called the Ford Quadricyle. He was introduced to Thomas Edison during the same year.
1899: Ford was backed by some investors and established the Detroit Automobile Company on August 5.
1901: The Detroit Automobile Company failed and was dissolved.
1903: Ford, partnered with new investors forming the Ford Company with a capital of $28,000.
1908: The Model T was introduced. The car model had structural changes like the steering wheel being
on the left side. The car was affordable to the masses and easy to drive.
1913: On April 1st, the mass production of Ford's moving assembly line began.
1914: Henry Ford raised the salary of his workers while reducing the numbers of hours they worked per day.
1918: Henry Ford resigns as President of Ford Motor Company and Edsel Ford is elected to succeed him.
1926: The drooping sales of the Model T prompts Henry to make a new model. He allow his son Edsel to design
the body. The result was the successful introduction of the Model A in 1927.
1930: Ford's Universal Credit Corporation emerges as a major car financing organization.
1932: Ford Motor Company produces one third of the world's automobiles.
1938: In July, Ford was presented the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal awarded by Nazi
Germany to foreigners
1945: September 21st, due to his ill health, Henry appoints his grandson Henry Ford II president of Ford Motor
Company.
1947: On April 7th, at the age of 83, Henry Ford died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
1958: The Edsel was the marquee of Ford Motor Company. Today it is known as one of it's biggest failures.
