Henry Ford

Henry grew to dislike farm work and picked up a knack for machinery. In 1879 he left his family farm near Dearborn, Michigan and headed for Detroit where he became an apprentice in a machine shop. Later, Henry’s father offered him forty acres of timber land to became a farmer and quit machinery; he accepted the offer and built a first class machinist’s workshop. Henry spent more time in Detroit and eventually left the farm by 1891. Four years later, he became the chief engineer at the Detroit Edison Company; where he met one of his closest friends, and his biggest inspiration, Thomas Edison. At the turn of the century Edison blessed Ford in his quest for a efficient, gas powered, car.
In his spare time Henry was building an automobile with an internal combustion engine, which he completed in 1896. Three years later, the Detroit Edison Company made Henry chose between automobiles and his job. He chose automobiles and later that year began the Detroit Automobile Company. His compa...