June 16, 1903 – The paperwork to incorporate Ford Motor Company is signed

At approximately 9:30 am on this day in 1903, in Detroit, Michigan, Henry Ford and 12 investors met to sign the paperwork to form Ford Motor Company. The documents were notarized and sent to the office of the Michigan Secretary of State for incorporation. The papers, dated June 16, 1903, did not reach the office until the next day. On June 17, 1903 Ford became a legal company. Within a month, the company had its first order for the company’s new Model A. It had a two-cylinder engine that pumped out 8 horsepower and could hit speeds of up to 30 mph.

Ford Motor Company soon earned a reputation for affordable, reliable, and mass produced automobiles that effectively changed the United States and many other parts of the world throughout the early 20th century. Among the most revolutionary products and procedures of the early FMC are the Model T, which Ford introduced in 1908. This car truly put the world on wheels five years later when Ford introduced the moving assembly line for automobile production. This production method allowed the company to increase the output of the Model T by hundreds of thousands per year. Then, In 1914 Ford, began paying factory workers $5 per eight hour work day, an outstanding sum in those days. Previously pay sat at $2.34 for a nine hour day. It should be noted, the history of Ford Motor Company dates to before the incorporation of this company. Henry Ford founded two previous companies, Detroit Automobile Company

and Henry Ford Company, both failed. Third time is the charm, it seems.