Henry Ford

Henry Ford

Henry Ford had only a modest education. He didn't invent the gasoline engine. He didn't invent the automobile. In fact, he never really invented anything. And yet by the time he died in 1947, Ford and the company he founded had a profound effect on the world he taught to drive.

Given all that he accomplished, it's hard to believe that Henry Ford was almost 40 when he established the Ford Motor Company. At the time America was more agricultural and industrial, and horseless carriages were toys for a wealthy few. But in just four decades, Henry Ford had, in his own words, “invented the modern age.”