First Automobile

• The first automobile was invented in Germany by Karl Benz in 1886, with Gottleib Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach following a few months later with their version, according to cyberparent.com.
  
  

Henry Ford

• Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 in Dearborn, Mich., which ultimately produced more than 15 million Model T cars from 1908 to 1927, according to npr.org.
  
  

General Motors

• in 1908, William Durant founded General Motors, which came to serve as the umbrella company for Chevrolet, Cadillac, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and GMC trucks, according to allisons.org.
  
  

World War II

• Civilian auto production halted from 1941 to1945 for World War II as Ford, Chrysler and GM retooled their plants to make tanks, aircraft and Jeeps, according to allisons.org.
  
  

Postwar Boom

• Behemoth chrome-bedecked Buick Roadmasters were popular in the 1950s.
  
  The V8 engine and aircraft-inspired auto styling dominated the industry until the 1960s as the motor public clamored to buy more powerful and larger cars, according to allisons.org.
  
  

Decline

• General Motors and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
  
  The American auto industry began its decline after the 1970s oil crises and the rise in popularity of Japanese imports, which ultimately led to GM and Chrysler filing for bankruptcy in 2009, according to the Economist.