Henry Ford

http://www.moreinterestingfacts.com/michigan-facts

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, and was the oldest of William and Mary Ford’s six children. 16-year-old Ford left his hometown of now Dearborn, Michigan, to work in Detroit for 3 years as a machinist’s apprentice. He then returned to Dearborn where he operated and repaired steam engines until 1891, when Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company. When he was promoted to the position of Chief Engineer two years later, he had enough personal time to experiment with his ideas for internal combustion engines. In 1896, Ford created a self-propelled vehicle that he called the Quadricycle. The Quadricycle had a gasoline engine, which ultimately set Ford on the path to establishing his own automobile manufacturing company. The Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903, which Henry Ford and the chief engineer and vie-president. From there, the Model T was introduced in 1908, and the company has been a success ever since. 

Ford and his Quadricycle
http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/ModelTFord/

However, beyond Ford’s obvious achievements, he was involved in other activities as well. Ford built and raced race cars early on in his career to prove that his engineering designs reliable vehicles. During the first World War, Ford also financed a pacifist expedition to Europe. During the second World War, Ford’s manufacturing factories were mobilized to produce military bombers, Jeeps, and tanks.  In 1918, Ford campaigned for the United States senate and was unsuccessful. Last, several schools were established under Ford’s influence in various areas of the country, which used traditional one room school and modern teaching techniques, and “learning through doing.”

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/default.asp#childhood

http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/hf/facts.asp