Henry Ford was undoubtedly one of the biggest contributors to the cars we know today. 

1896 – Henry Ford built his first experimental car.
1903 – The original Model A was assembled at the Mack Avenue plant.
1908 – The Model T was introduced and was highly successful.
1908 – Ford started selling internationally, in Paris.
1911 – The first American assembly plant was established in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Ford company’s first overseas production plant opened in Manchester, England.

1913 – Henry introduced the first assembly line for cars. 
1914 – Henry introduced the $5 daily wage for an 8 hour day. 
(Before this, the wage was $2.34 for a 9 hour day).

1914 – More than 500,000 Model Ts were on the roads around the world.
1919 – Henry Ford’s son, Edsel Ford, became President of the Ford Company.
1922 – Ford acquired the Lincoln Motor Company producing Ford’s luxury Lincolns and Continentals.
1923 – Ford was producing more than 50% of America’s automobiles.
1925 – The price of the Model T dropped from $850 (1908) to less than $300.
1927 – The last Model T and the first new Model A were produced.

By the end of the 1920s Ford had over 20 assembly plants overseas:
In Europe, Latin America, Canada, Asia, South Africa, and Australia.

1932 – The First Ford V-8 was produced.
1938 – The first Ford Mercury was introduced.

1942 – The Ford Company redirected focus to building cars, planes, and tanks for the American army.
1954 – Ford introduced The Thunderbird.

1961 – Ford bought the electronics company Philco.

1989-1990 – Ford acquired Jaguar. (Sold to Tata Motors Ltd in India in 2008).
1993 – Ford acquired Aston Martin. (Sold in 2007).
1994 – Ford acquired the car rental company called Hertz Corporation. (Sold in 2005).
1999 – Ford acquired Volvo.
2000 – Ford acquired the Land Rover brand of SUVs. (Sold to Tata Motors Ltd in India in 2008).
2000 – Ford acquired a significant share of Mazda Motor Corporation. (Sold shares from 2008 to 2015).

2008 – TARP Troubled Assets Relief Program was announced in response to the subprime mortgage crisis. 
Both General Motors and Chrysler had filed for bankruptcy. 
2009 – The American government introduced the “cash-for-clunkers” plan which gave consumers up to $4,500 towards trading in their older models for newer models. 
2010 – Volvo was sold to a company in China called Zhejiang Geely Holding.
2016 – Ford Smart Mobility was created.
2017 – Ford announced an increase in their line of electric cars.
2018 – Ford announced they were phasing out their lines of cars (except The Mustang and Ford Focus Active) to build trucks and SUVs.