6 Practice D
Study the details of Henry Ford’s life, and complete the biography below with suitable
time markers (one word per gap).
1863 Born on a farm near Detroit, USA.
1879 Left home to work as a machinist.
1888 Married Clara Bryant and worked the family farm.
1893 Became Chief Engineer with the Edison company. Began to experiment with
petrol engines.
1903 The Ford Motor Company was formed to build the car that he had designed.
1908 The Model T was introduced at a price of $825. It was successful because it was
easily maintained and simple to drive.
1909 The price of the Model T was regularly reduced and sales climbed sharply.
1914 Ford shocked the industry by increasing wages to $5 a day. This successfully
reduced labour turnover and attracted the best engineers to the company.
1916 The price of the Model T was cut to $360 and sales reached 472,000 annually.
1927 Production of the Model T was finally stopped after selling over 15 million.
Sales had been declining for years, and it was replaced by the Model A.
1941 After years of conflict with the labour unions, Ford finally recognised the Union
of Automobile Workers.
1945 Having kept effective control of the company into his 80s, he allowed his
grandson, Henry Ford II, to become president.
1947 Henry Ford died at the age of 83.
3.10:Time Markers 209Henry Ford
Henry Ford was born on a farm near Detroit and lived there (a) _______________ he
was 16. He returned to the farm nine years (b) _______________ to marry Clara
Bryant. However, he was more interested in machinery than farming and
(c) _______________ a few years he became an engineer with the Edison company,
working there until 1899. (d) _______________ this period he experimented with
petrol engines and eventually built a car. (e) _______________ 1903 he was
confident enough to form a manufacturing company to produce cheap vehicles.
The Model T, introduced in 1908, dominated the American market
(f) _______________ the next twenty years. Although Ford had been one of the
leading American car makers (g) _______________ the 1920s, unions were only
recognised in 1941, (h) _______________ a long struggle. Henry Ford retained control
of his company (i) _______________ old age, though (j) _______________ his death he
allowed his grandson to take over.