C4IP is recognizing American businessman and inventor Henry Ford (1863-1947), who modernized the manufacturing and automobile industries.
Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863. Growing up the eldest of six children, Ford showed an interest in innovation early on, developing his first steam engine at 15. His love for machines grew exponentially, inspiring him to look for work in the industry.
In 1888, Ford married Clara Bryant, with whom he had his only child, Edsel Ford. After becoming a machinist’s apprentice in his home state of Michigan, Ford eventually worked as chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company in 1891. There, Thomas Edison mentored Ford, beginning a lifelong friendship between the two inventors.
Through his work with machinery, Ford developed a knack for inventing. Over the course of his career, Ford received patents for various inventions, including the plastic automobile with panels made from soybean and hemp and his famous “Model-T” automobile. At the end of his life, Ford had received a staggering 161 patents for his inventions.
In 1903 he founded the company that would change the lives of car owners worldwide: the Ford Motor Company. It was there that Ford developed the Model T car in 1908, garnering wide acclaim for the company across the United States. Shortly thereafter, in 1913, he further revolutionized the automobile industry with the introduction of the moving assembly line, which created an efficient process for manufacturing cars.
Today, the Ford Motor Company is worth over $56 billion and employs approximately 88,000 workers in the United States. In 2022 alone, the company sold over 4 million Ford vehicles worldwide and continues to be a force in the automobile industry — even claiming the title of “America’s best-selling truck” for almost five decades in a row.