Born In The U.S.A.

>1900s

1903: Henry Ford launches the Ford Motor Co. with about $30,000 in cash after the failure of his Detroit Automobile Co.

1904: In Skunk Works on the third floor of the Piquette Avenue plant, Ford and his engineers experiment with lighter-weight materials that allow the company to mass-produce cars

1908: Named for its engine, Ford's Model T puts America on wheels as the first mass-produced car; Ford builds more than 15 million over 19 years

1910s

1914: Ford introduces the $5-a-day wage at a new factory in Highland Park, Mich.

1917: Ford begins 11 years of construction of the Rouge complex in Dearborn, Mich., which becomes an icon of American industry, an ore-to-assembly, completely vertical enterprise

1920s

1927: To replace the Model T, Ford launches the second Model A. (The original was built in 1903.) The company sells 4 million of them 1920s Ford dominates automobile production, with 55% of output in 1921 and nearly 65% in 1924. But by 1931, General Motors eclipses a flailing Ford to become the world's largest automaker

1930s

1930s: Auto sales drop; labor unrest rises, as does the U.A.W.; Congress passes labor-relations laws as part of the New Deal

1937: Years of resisting union efforts come to a head at the Battle of the Overpass. In 1941 the U.A.W. organizes Ford

1940s

1940s: In the U.S., Ford factories, including its famed Willow Run plant, churn out tanks, cannons and planes for the war effort

1945: Henry Ford II becomes president of Ford Motor

1950s

1956: Ford goes public, but the founding family maintains control with class-B shares that carry disproportionate voting power

1958: The Ford Edsel is a famous $400 million flop, its failure blamed on its name, styling and launch timing

1960s

1960: Robert McNamara is named president; he leaves for a job as Kennedy's Defense Secretary

1970s

1970s: The Pinto's infamous fuel-system defects and the oil crisis are setbacks for Ford

1978: Lee Iacocca, the mind behind Mustang, clashes with Henry II and is fired, then becomes Chrysler's CEO

1980s

1986: A design icon, the Taurus reinvigorates the company and sets the standard for aerodynamic exteriors; other automakers follow suit

1987: Henry Ford II dies, and William Clay (Bill) Ford Jr. joins the board of directors in 1988

1990s

1999: Jacques Nasser becomes CEO with a mandate to shake things up; Bill Ford is named chairman

2000: Firestone tires on Ford Explorers are blamed for rollovers and deaths