Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 and died on April 7, 1947. Henry Ford was the son of William Ford, who had emigrated from Ireland in 1847 and settled on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan. Henry disliked farm life and had a natural aptitude for machinery. When he was 15 he went to Detroit and trained as a machinist. Henry Ford began to experiment with a horseless carriage in 1890 and completed his first car, the quadricycle, in about 1896. During the following years he tried unsuccessfully to get it into production. In 1903 he launched the Ford...
his death at the age of 50. Edsel"s oldest son was released from the navy and made an executive vice-president. Unlike his father, who had not been allowed to go to college, Henry II attended Yale University.

Henry Ford II recruited talent from outside the company and effected a sweeping reorganization. The company secured firm control of second place in the American automobile industry. In the 1960s it expanded into electronics and astronautics by purchasing the Philco Corporation, and Henry Ford II was regarded as an industrial statesman. He retired from his top company posts in 1979 and 1980.