Ford Builds Quadricycle: The Auto Age Starts
Henry Ford test-drove his first automobile, the Quadricycle, through the streets of Detroit at 4 AM on June 4, 1896. The vehicle weighed 500 pounds, had four bicycle wheels, a two-cylinder ethanol engine producing four horsepower, and a tiller for steering. It had no brakes and no reverse gear. Ford had built it in a shed behind his home on Bagley Avenue while working as chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company. The shed door was too narrow for the finished vehicle, so Ford knocked out the door frame with an axe to get it outside. He sold the Quadricycle for $200 and used the money to build a second, improved vehicle. Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. The Quadricycle is now in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
June 4, 1896
130 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on June 4
Chinese astronomers already knew it was coming. They'd tracked the sun for generations, mapped its moods, built careers on predicting its behavior. But when the…
Henry III was 22 years old when he inherited an empire stretching from Denmark to southern Italy — and he actually made it work. His father Conrad II left him a…
The world's first food monopoly wasn't wine. Wasn't bread. It was mold. King Charles VI handed the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon exclusive rights to ripen th…
Villagers from Kent and Sussex stormed Bayham Abbey and occupied it for a week, protesting Cardinal Wolsey's order to dissolve the monastery and redirect its we…
Lightning hit St Paul's steeple on a June afternoon and within hours, 500 years of medieval stonework were gone. The blaze burned so hot that molten lead from t…
The colony was gone before anyone could explain it. Raleigh never actually set foot on Roanoke Island — he funded the 1584 expedition but stayed in England, sen…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.