1.
Springfield, Massachusetts
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Springfield is a city in western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers, the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern Mill River. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 153,060. Metropolitan Springfield, as one of two areas in Massachusetts, had an estimated population of 698,903 as of 2009. The first Springfield in the New World, it is the largest city in Western New England, and the urban, economic and it is the third-largest city in Massachusetts and fourth-largest in New England after Boston, Worcester, and Providence. Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, lies 23.9 miles south of Springfield, bradley International Airport, which sits 12 miles south of Metro Center Springfield, is Hartford-Springfields airport. Springfield was founded in 1636 by English Puritan William Pynchon as Agawam Plantation under the administration of the Connecticut Colony, in 1641 it was renamed after Pynchons hometown of Springfield, Essex, England, following incidents that precipitated the settlement joining the Massachusetts Bay Colony. From 1777 until its closing during the Vietnam War, the Springfield Armory attracted skilled laborers to Springfield, arsenal at Springfield during Shays Rebellion of 1787 led directly to the formation of the U. S. Springfield is located at 42°6′45″N 72°32′51″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 33.2 square miles, of which 32.1 square miles is land and 1.1 square miles is water. Once nicknamed The City in a Forest, Springfield features over 4, aside from its rivers, Springfields 2nd most prominent topographical feature is the citys 735 acres Forest Park, designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Forest Park also borders Western Massachusetts most affluent town, Longmeadow, Springfield shares borders with other well-heeled suburbs such as East Longmeadow, Wilbraham, Ludlow and the de-industrializing city of Chicopee. The small cities of Agawam and West Springfield, Massachusetts lie less than a mile from Springfields Metro Center, across the Connecticut River. The City of Springfield also owns the Springfield Country Club, which is located in the city of West Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield, like other cities in southern New England, has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. Winters are cold with a average in January of around 26 °F. During winter, noreaster storms can drop significant snowfalls on Springfield, Springfields summers are very warm and sometimes humid. During summer, several times per month, on hot days afternoon thunderstorms will develop when unstable warm air collides with approaching cold fronts, the daily average in July is around 74 °F. Usually several days during the summer exceed 90 °F, constituting a heat wave, Spring and fall temperatures are usually pleasant, with mild days and crisp, cool nights
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Car
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A car is a wheeled, self-powered motor vehicle used for transportation and a product of the automotive industry. The year 1886 is regarded as the year of the modern car. In that year, German inventor Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, cars did not become widely available until the early 20th century. One of the first cars that was accessible to the masses was the 1908 Model T, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly adopted in the United States of America, where they replaced animal-drawn carriages and carts, cars are equipped with controls used for driving, parking, passenger comfort and safety, and controlling a variety of lights. Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, examples include rear reversing cameras, air conditioning, navigation systems, and in car entertainment. Most cars in use in the 2010s are propelled by a combustion engine. Both fuels cause air pollution and are blamed for contributing to climate change. Vehicles using alternative fuels such as ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles and natural gas vehicles are also gaining popularity in some countries, electric cars, which were invented early in the history of the car, began to become commercially available in 2008. There are costs and benefits to car use, the costs of car usage include the cost of, acquiring the vehicle, interest payments, repairs and auto maintenance, fuel, depreciation, driving time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance. The costs to society of car use include, maintaining roads, land use, road congestion, air pollution, public health, health care, road traffic accidents are the largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide. The benefits may include transportation, mobility, independence. The ability for humans to move flexibly from place to place has far-reaching implications for the nature of societies and it was estimated in 2010 that the number of cars had risen to over 1 billion vehicles, up from the 500 million of 1986. The numbers are increasing rapidly, especially in China, India, the word car is believed to originate from the Latin word carrus or carrum, or the Middle English word carre. In turn, these originated from the Gaulish word karros, the Gaulish language was a branch of the Brythoic language which also used the word Karr, the Brythonig language evolved into Welsh where Car llusg and car rhyfel still survive. It originally referred to any wheeled vehicle, such as a cart, carriage. Motor car is attested from 1895, and is the formal name for cars in British English. Autocar is a variant that is attested from 1895
4.
Reading, Pennsylvania
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Reading, is the county seat of Berks County and with a population of 98,653 is the fifth-largest city in Pennsylvania. Located in southeastern Pennsylvania, it is the city of the Greater Reading Area. Reading Railroad is one of the four properties in the classic United States version of the Monopoly board game. Reading was one of the first localities where outlet shopping became a tourist industry and it has been known as The Pretzel City, because of numerous local pretzel bakeries. Currently, Bachman, Dieffenbach, Tom Sturgis, and Unique Pretzel bakeries call the Reading area home, according to the 2010 census, Reading has the highest share of citizens living in poverty in the nation. In recent years, the Reading area has become a destination for cyclists, with more than 125 miles of trails in five major preserves, it is an International Mountain Bicycling Association Ride Center and it annually hosts the Reading 120 international road cycling race. In April 2017, it was announced that an indoor velodrome, or cycling track, will be built in Reading as the first of its kind on the East Coast and it will also serve as the Cycling Leagues world headquarters. Lenni Lenape people, also known as Delaware Indians, were the inhabitants of the Reading area. The Colony of Pennsylvania was a 1680 land grant from King Charles II of England to William Penn, comprising more than 45,000 square miles, it was named for his father, Sir William Penn. In 1743, Richard and Thomas Penn mapped out the town of Reading with Conrad Weiser, taking its name from Reading, Berkshire, England, the town was established in 1748. Upon the creation of Berks County in 1752, Reading became the county seat, the region was settled by emigrants from southern and western Germany, who bought land from the Penns. The first Amish community in the New World was established in Greater Reading, the Pennsylvanian German dialect was spoken in the area well into the 1950s and later. During the French and Indian War, Reading was a base for a chain of forts along the Blue Mountain. By the time of the American Revolution, the iron industry had a total production which exceeded Englands. That output that would help supply George Washingtons troops with cannons, rifles, during the early period of the conflict, Reading was again a depot for military supply. Hessian prisoners from the Battle of Trenton were also detained here, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the capital of the United States at the time of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. President Washington traveled to Reading, and considered making it the national capital. Susanna Cox was tried and convicted for infanticide in Reading in 1809 and her case attracted tremendous sympathy,20,000 viewers came to view her hanging, swamping the 3,000 inhabitants
5.
Chicago Times-Herald race
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The Chicago Times-Herald race was the first automobile race held in the United States. Sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald, the race was held in Chicago in 1895 between six cars and won by Charles Duryeas Motorized Wagon, the race created considerable publicity for the motocycle, which had been introduced in the United States only two years earlier. On July 10,1895 the Chicago Times-Herald announced a race to be held in the city, the promotion was an attempt to foster growth of the young auto industry in the United States and to boost newspaper sales. The first automobiles in the nation were produced two years earlier, and they were so new at the time that the papers editors could not easily agree upon a name for them. After considerable wrangling, the decided to call it a Moto-Cycle race. The original course of the race was to run from Chicago north to Milwaukee, the route was changed to be only 54 miles from Chicago to Evanston and back. The finish line was near what is now the Chicago Museum of Science, the race was intended to be held on November 2, but few cars had shown up, and the race was rescheduled. Eighty-three cars were entered into the race, but only six arrived for the actual competition. Many of the entrants did not have their cars completed on time, elwood Haynes car, which was a favorite to win the race, was damaged en route and unable to compete. Both Haynes and the driver of a Benz car, were stopped by police while driving their cars into the city and they were forced to requisition horses to pull the cars. As the police informed them, they had no right to drive their vehicles on the city streets. The situation caused the race to again be postponed while the Times-Herald editors convinced the city leaders to pass an ordinance to confirm the right of these vehicles to travel on city streets, once the ordinance passed, the race was held on November 28, Thanksgiving Day. The day was snowy and 38 °F, the roads muddy, the first car to arrive was a German made car by inventor Karl Benz. In total, three Benz cars ran in the race, the only other four-wheeled car to run in the race was Charles Duryeas motorized wagon. The two other vehicles that took part were two-wheeled automobiles, the motorcycles lacked the power to climb one of the courses grades. Another entrant was electric-powered, and its battery died because of the weather before getting very far. Just after starting, one Benz struck a horse, and was forced to leave the race, on the return trip the Duryea began to take the lead. The Duryea car took first place and the prize, completing the race after seven hours and fifty-three minutes
6.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
7.
Thanksgiving
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Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in Canada, in the United States, in some of the Caribbean islands and in Liberia. It was originally celebrated as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest, similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well. Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among almost all religions after harvests, the Thanksgiving holidays history in North America is rooted in English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation. It also has aspects of a harvest festival, even though the harvest in New England occurs well before the date on which the modern Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated. Before 1536 there were 95 Church holidays, plus 52 Sundays, the 1536 reforms reduced the number of Church holidays to 27, but some Puritans wished to completely eliminate all Church holidays, including Christmas and Easter. The holidays were to be replaced by specially called Days of Fasting or Days of Thanksgiving, unexpected disasters or threats of judgement from on high called for Days of Fasting. Special blessings, viewed as coming from God, called for Days of Thanksgiving, for example, Days of Fasting were called on account of drought in 1611, floods in 1613, and plagues in 1604 and 1622. Days of Thanksgiving were called following the victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588, an unusual annual Day of Thanksgiving began in 1606 following the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and developed into Guy Fawkes Day on November 5. Some researchers state that there is no compelling narrative of the origins of the Canadian Thanksgiving day, the origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are also sometimes traced to the French settlers who came to New France in the 17th century, who celebrated their successful harvests. The French settlers in the area typically had feasts at the end of the harvest season and continued throughout the winter season, as settlers arrived in Nova Scotia from New England after 1700, late autumn Thanksgiving celebrations became commonplace. New immigrants into the country—such as the Irish, Scottish, most of the US aspects of Thanksgiving, were incorporated when United Empire Loyalists began to flee from the United States during the American Revolution and settled in Canada. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest, Pilgrims and Puritans who began emigrating from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. In the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God, now called Oktober Feesten, Leidens autumn thanksgiving celebration in 1617 was the occasion for sectarian disturbance that appears to have accelerated the pilgrims plans to emigrate to America. Later in Massachusetts, religious thanksgiving services were declared by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford, the practice of holding an annual harvest festival did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s. Thanksgiving proclamations were made mostly by church leaders in New England up until 1682, during the revolutionary period, political influences affected the issuance of Thanksgiving proclamations. Various proclamations were made by governors, John Hancock, General George Washington. James Baker maintains, The American holidays true origin was the New England Calvinist Thanksgiving, never coupled with a Sabbath meeting, the Puritan observances were special days set aside during the week for thanksgiving and praise in response to Gods providence
8.
Hairpin turn
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The hairpin turns are commonly seen in mountaineous area, and often appear continuously. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, in British English switchback is more likely to refer to a heavily undulating road—a use extended from the rollercoaster and the other type of switchback railway. Hairpin turns are often built when a route climbs up or down a slope, so that it can travel mostly across the slope with only moderate steepness. Highways of this style are generally less costly to build. On occasion, the road may loop completely, using a tunnel or bridge to cross itself at a different elevation, when this routing geometry is used for a rail line, it is called a spiral, or spiral loop. In trail building, an alternative to switchbacks is the stairway, the Geiranger road from Geirangerfjord to the mountain pass won the gold medal on the world exhibition, Paris 1900, the original design included a 270° spiral. Norwegian National Road 7 through Måbødalen has a spiral partly within tunnels, the road from Frangokastello to Kallikratis in Crete has 27 tight bends. Due to mountainous profile of the country are many streets in Greece having tight bends. US441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee/North Carolina border, US40 over Berthoud Pass in Colorado. It forms half of the Mount Evans Scenic Byway, pikes Peak Highway in Colorado Springs includes numerous hairpins and switchbacks which are known as Ws. Mexican Autopista 95D has a hairpin turn which is known as La Pera. The Crowsnest Highway in British Columbia, Canada east of Osoyoos has several hairpin turns, a sharp hairpin turn on British Columbia Highway 97 alongside Vaseux Lake near Oliver, British Columbia has been the scene of many accidents and deaths. Nova Scotia Highway 105, part of the Trans-Canada Highway in Cape Breton has a turn after peaking Kellys Mountain before descending to cross the Seal Island Bridge. The Duffy Lake Road in British Columbia descending into Pemberton from Lillooet, 50°184. 31N, 122°354. 50W The Paso Internacional Los Libertadores has several switchbacks on the Chilean side of the pass. 26 below the tunnel entrance alone, in Japan, there is the known Nikkō Irohazaka, a one-way switchback mountain road, located at Nikko, Tochigi. This road plays a significant role in Japanese history, The route was popular with Buddhist pilgrims on their way to Lake Chuzenji, iroha-Zaka ascends more than 1,300 feet. In Macau, a part of the Guia Circuit is a hairpin turn, in India, the Gata Loops, a part of the route from Manali to Leh. And the Agumbe Ghat road from Udupi to Teerthahalli in Karnataka have 13 hairpin turns, in fact, most of the Ghats include at least one hairpin turn
9.
Schuylkill River
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The Schuylkill River is an important river running west to east in eastern Pennsylvania, which was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal. Several of its tributaries drain parts of the center-southern and easternmost Coal Regions in the state. It flows for 135 miles before joining the Delaware River as one of its largest tributaries in Philadelphia, in 1682 William Penn chose the left bank of the confluence upon which he founded the planned city of Philadelphia on lands purchased from the native Delaware nation. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River, and its length was once part of the Delaware peoples southern territories. The waters of its upper end rise in what are called the richest anthracite coal fields in the world. The West Branch starts near Minersville and joins the branch at the town of Schuylkill Haven. It then combines with the Little Schuylkill River downstream in the town of Port Clinton, the Tulpehocken Creek joins it at the western edge of Reading. Wissahickon Creek joins it in northwest Philadelphia, other major tributaries include, Maiden Creek, Manatawny Creek, French Creek, and Perkiomen Creek. The Schuylkill joins the Delaware at the site of the former Philadelphia Navy Yard, now the Philadelphia Naval Business Center, the Lenape or Delaware Indians were the original inhabitants of the area around this river, which they called Tool-pay Hanna or Tool-pay Hok Ing. The river was discovered by European explorers from the Netherlands, Sweden and it was through historical documents called various names, including Manayunk, Manajungh, Manaiunk, and Lenni Bikbi. The Swedish explorer called it Menejackse kill or alternately Skiar kill or the Linde River, the headwaters of the river, up near Reading, was later called Tulpehocken by the English. The river was given the Dutch name Schuylkill. Another explanation is that the name translates to hideout creek in one of the Algonquian languages spoken by a Delaware tribe in their confederation. The two then backed the flagging effort to improve navigation on the Schuylkill, which efforts date back to legislation measures as early as 1762. The success, along with the opening of the first operable sections of New Yorks Erie Canal spurred stockholders of the Schuylkill Canal to finally fund the works. In the 1830s railway technology and new railroads grew in leaps and bounds, from 1820 to the 1860s Iron works, foundries, manufacturing mills, blast furnaces, rolling mills, rail yards, rail roads, warehouses and train stations sprang up throughout the valley. Tiny farm villages grew into vibrant company towns then transitioned into small cities as an industry and supporting businesses transformed local economics. Restoration of the river has been funded by money left for that purpose in Benjamin Franklins will, silt and coal dust from upstream industries, particularly coal mining and washing operations in the headwaters, led to extensive silting of the river through the early 20th century
10.
The Henry Ford
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The Henry Ford is a large indoor and outdoor history museum complex and a National Historic Landmark in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, USA. The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village is the largest indoor-outdoor museum complex in the United States and is visited by 1.6 million people each year and it is one of the largest such collections in the nation. Henry Ford said of his museum, I am collecting the history of our people as written into things their hands made and used. When we are through, we shall have reproduced American life as lived, the Edison Institute was dedicated by President Herbert Hoover to Fords longtime friend Thomas Edison on October 21,1929 – the 50th anniversary of the first successful incandescent light bulb. The attendees included Marie Curie, George Eastman, John D. Rockefeller, Will Rogers, Orville Wright, the dedication was broadcast on radio with listeners encouraged to turn off their electric lights until the switch was flipped at the Museum. The Edison Institute was, at first, a site for educational purposes only. It was originally composed of the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, the Henry Ford is sited between the Ford Dearborn Development Center and several Ford engineering buildings with which it shares the same style gates and brick fences. In 1970, the museum purchased what it believed to be a 17th-century Brewster Chair, created for one of the Pilgrim settlers in the Plymouth Colony, in September 1977, the chair was determined to be a modern forgery created in 1969 by Rhode Island sculptor Armand LaMontagne. The museum retains the piece as a tool on forgeries. The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation began as Henry Fords personal collection of historic objects, a model of the nuclear-powered Ford Nucleon automobile An Oscar Mayer Wienermobile The 1961 Lincoln Continental, SS-100-X that President John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated. The rocking chair from Fords Theatre in which President Abraham Lincoln was sitting when he was shot, a ten-person safety bicycle made in 1896. A collection of several fine 17th- and 18th-century violins including a Stradivarius, Thomas Edisons alleged last breath in a sealed tube. The bus on which Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat, fokker Trimotor airplane that flew the first flight over the North Pole. Bill Elliotts record-breaking race car clocking in at over 212 MPH at Talladega in 1987 Fairbottom Bobs, the Automotive Hall of Fame, adjacent to the Henry Ford Museum. A working fragment of the original Holiday Inn Great Sign A Chesapeake & Ohio Railway 2-6-6-6 Allegheny-class steam locomotive built by Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, the Allegheny was the most powerful steam locomotive ever built. The Research Center also contains the Ford Motor Archives, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the Henry Ford Museum exhibited a vast array of artifacts and media documenting the Titanics voyage and demise. The exhibit was hosted from 31 March to 30 September 2012, Greenfield Village, the outdoor living history museum section of the Henry Ford complex, was dedicated in 1929 and opened to the public in June 1933. It was the first outdoor museum of its type in the nation, patrons enter at the gate, passing by the Josephine Ford Memorial Fountain and Benson Ford Research Center
11.
Henry Ford
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Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Although Ford invented neither the nor the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would impact the landscape of the 20th Century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry, as the owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with Fordism, mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers, Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation, Ford was also widely known for his pacifism during the first years of World War I, and for promoting antisemitism through his newspaper The Dearborn Independent and the book The International Jew. Henry Ford was born July 30,1863, on a farm in Greenfield Township, Henry Fords siblings were Margaret Ford, Jane Ford, William Ford and Robert Ford. His father gave him a watch in his early teens. At 15, Ford dismantled and reassembled the timepieces of friends and neighbors dozens of times, at twenty, Ford walked four miles to their Episcopal church every Sunday. Ford was devastated when his mother died in 1876 and his father expected him to eventually take over the family farm, but he despised farm work. He later wrote, I never had any love for the farm—it was the mother on the farm I loved. In 1879, Ford left home to work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit, flower & Bros. and later with the Detroit Dry Dock Co. In 1882, he returned to Dearborn to work on the family farm and he was later hired by Westinghouse to service their steam engines. During this period Ford also studied bookkeeping at Goldsmith, Bryant & Stratton Business College in Detroit, Ford married Clara Jane Bryant on April 11,1888 and supported himself by farming and running a sawmill. They had one child, Edsel Ford, in 1891, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company. After his promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893, he had enough time and these experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of a self-propelled vehicle which he named the Ford Quadricycle. He test-drove it on June 4, after various test drives, Ford brainstormed ways to improve the Quadricycle. Also in 1896, Ford attended a meeting of Edison executives, Edison approved of Fords automobile experimentation
12.
Ford Model T
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The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1,1908, to May 26,1927. The Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, ahead of the BMC Mini, Citroën DS, and Volkswagen Type 1. With 16.5 million sold it stands eighth on the top ten list of most sold cars of all time as of 2012, although automobiles had already existed for decades, they were still mostly scarce and expensive at the Model Ts introduction in 1908. Positioned as reliable, easily maintained mass market transportation, it was a runaway success, in a matter of days after the release,15,000 orders were placed. The first production Model T was produced on August 12,1908 and left the factory on September 27,1908, at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan. On May 26,1927, Henry Ford watched the 15 millionth Model T Ford roll off the line at his factory in Highland Park. There were several cars produced or prototyped by Henry Ford from the founding of the company in 1903 until the Model T was introduced, although he started with the Model A, there were not 19 production models, some were only prototypes. The production model immediately before the Model T was the Model S, a version of the companys largest success to that point. The follow-up was the Ford Model A, the company publicity said this was because the new car was such a departure from the old that Henry wanted to start all over again with the letter A. The Model T was Fords first automobile mass-produced on moving assembly lines with completely interchangeable parts, Henry Ford said of the vehicle, I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one –, although credit for the development of the assembly line belongs to Ransom E. The Model T was designed by Childe Harold Wills, and Hungarian immigrants Joseph A. Galamb, Henry Love, C. J. Smith, Gus Degner and Peter E. Martin were also part of the team. Production of the Model T began in the quarter of 1908. Collectors today sometimes classify Model Ts by build years and refer to these as model years and this is a retroactive classification scheme, the concept of model years as we conceive it today did not exist at the time. The nominal model designation was Model T, although design revisions did occur during the two decades of production. The Model T had a front-mounted 177-cubic-inch inline four-cylinder engine, producing 20 hp, according to Ford Motor Company, the Model T had fuel economy on the order of 13–21 mpg‑US
