The road to becoming one of the innovators of American manufacturing wasn't always smooth for Henry Ford.
Ford tried and failed many times before establishing the Ford Motor Company -- which proved to have some longevity -- and producing the Model A, which first came off the assembly line 110 years ago this week. In a coincidence of round numbers, it was also 150 years ago this July that Henry Ford was born.
Fighting a poor public perception of motor-driven carriages in the 1890s, Ford captured the public's attention by racing his cars, setting records, and engaging a skeptical public. Henry Ford didn't invent the car, nor did he invent the assembly line, but he did transform the notion of a motorized vehicle from a simple tool into an indispensable part of American culture.