Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American
industrialist and business magnate. As founder of the Ford
Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making cars
affordable for middle-class Americans through the Fordism
system.
In 1911, he was awarded a patent for the transmission
mechanism that would be used in the Model T and other
automobiles. Ford was 83.