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N0KFQ > TODAY 12.01.12 18:12l 60 Lines 2951 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 16255_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 12
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<VE3UIL<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120112/1604Z 16255@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.47
Jan 12, 1904:
Henry Ford sets speed record
On this day in 1904, Henry Ford sets a land-speed record of 91.37
mph on the frozen surface of Michigan's Lake St. Clair. He was
driving a four-wheel vehicle, dubbed the "999," with a wooden
chassis but no body or hood. Ford's record was broken within a
month at Ormond Beach, Florida, by a driver named William K.
Vanderbilt; even so, the publicity surrounding Ford's achievement
was valuable to the auto pioneer, who in June of the previous
year had incorporated the Ford Motor Company, which would
eventually go on to become one of America's Big Three automakers.
Henry Ford was born on a farm in present-day Dearborn, Michigan,
on July 30, 1863. In 1896, Ford, then an engineer in Detroit,
built a four-wheel, self-propelled vehicle with a gasoline engine
that he called the Quadricycle. Three years later, he founded the
Detroit Automobile Company; however, by early 1901 the business
failed. That same year, Henry Ford became involved in auto racing
as a means to promote himself and gather investors for future
automaking ventures. Late that year, the Henry Ford Company was
established. The following year, Ford left the business after
clashing with Henry Leland, who had been hired as a consultant.
(Leland subsequently gave Ford's company a new name: the Cadillac
Automobile Company.)
On June 16, 1903, Ford incorporated a new company: the Ford Motor
Company. In January of the following year, Ford set his record at
Lake St. Clair, racing 1 mile in 39.4 seconds for a record speed
of 91.37 mph. For the next several years, Ford continued to build
race cars that met with varying degrees of success. In 1908, Ford
launched a car for the masses, the Model T, which revolutionized
the automotive industry--and American society in general--by
providing affordable, reliable transportation for the average
person. To promote the Model T, Ford entered it in races. In
1909, the Model T won a New York-to-Seattle race and although it
was later disqualified due to a technicality, the event provided
great advertising for Ford. Over the next few years, the Model T
won a variety of races around the U.S. In 1913, Ford, who was
reportedly unhappy with certain rules of auto racing, quit the
sport. (Now that his company was a success, he didn't require the
publicity from racing anyway.)
In 1913, Ford Motor Company began employing the moving assembly
line at its plant in Highland Park, Michigan, which reduced the
assembly speed of a chassis from 12 hours and eight minutes to
one hour and 33 minutes. The following year, Ford produced over
308,000 vehicles, more than the output of all other carmakers
combined. The Model T, which was in production until 1927, became
the world's top-selling vehicle until the Volkswagen Beetle
surpassed it in 1972. Henry Ford died at the age of 83 on April
7, 1947.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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