Henry Ford

About Henry Ford

Henry Ford (1863–1947) secured his high ranking of #811 on the Historical Popularity Index primarily through his revolutionary impact on manufacturing and transportation. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, his most significant contribution was the perfection and mass production of the automobile using the moving assembly line. This innovation dramatically lowered vehicle costs, making car ownership accessible to the American middle class and fundamentally reshaping 20th-century industrial practices and urban development.

The modern internet, however, shows a strong relative interest in Ford. With 1.6 million annualized Wikipedia views in 2025, he is experiencing an "overattention" factor of +5x compared to his historical importance rank. This suggests that while his influence is recognized, his contemporary digital footprint is disproportionately large when measured against figures like Ögedei Khan (#289 importance), who receives substantially fewer views (360K).

Despite this overall high attention, Ford's year-over-year trend shows a modest decline of -7.8% in views, though his recent momentum from Q1 to Q3 2025 was positive at +7%, indicating fluctuating but sustained digital engagement for the inventor of the assembly line.