Today In Irish History

October 1: TODAY in Irish History:

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Curated by Conor Cunneen IrishmanSpeaks Chicago Motivational Humorous Business Speaker, Author and History buff.

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1908: Henry Ford launches the Model T Ford

The Model T would go onto sell more than 15 million units. Henry Ford’s father William Ford was born in County Cork and was one of many to emigrate from Ireland due to poverty and famine. Ford visited Ireland in 1912, 65 years after his dad had emigrated and again in 1917 when he established the Ford plant in Cork city.
Ford did not forget his Irish roots. He named his Dearborn home Fair Lane after the area of Cork where his maternal grandfather came from. The Ford plant in Cork would finally close in 1984.

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Henry Ford 1863-1947

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READ: Ford’s Irish connections

READ: Lee Iacocca article on Henry Ford at Time

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1930: Actor Richard Harris

Actor Richard Harris is born in Limerick. In addition to appearing in numerous films, Harris was also a one hit wonder with the song McArthur Park.

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1975: Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier. Ali’s Irish Roots.

Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in the third and most brutal bout between two great boxers. What’s this doing in Today in Irish History? Well, good old Muhammad had Irish roots as you will in this video clip.
The great fighter had Irish origins and visited Ennis, Co. Clare – his ancestral home – in 2009. Ali twice fought and defeated “Irish” Jerry Quarry in the early 70’s.

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