Early Life• Automobile manufacturer Henry Ford was born on July30, 1863, on his family’s farm near Dearborn, Michigan.When Henry was 15, his father gifted him a pocketwatch, which the young boy promptly took apart andreassembled. Friends and neighbors were impressedand requested that he fix their timepieces too.• Unsatisfied with farm work, Ford left home the nextyear, at age 16, to take an apprenticeship as amachinist in Detroit. In the years that followed, hewould learn to skillfully operate and service steamengines, and would also study bookkeeping.