Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and it made him wealthy. Later in his life, one of his brother's died and a newspaper mistakenly published Alfred's obituary which, of course, he got to read. It was quite critical and said something to the effect that he invented new ways to kill people more quickly (untrue; dynamite is not used as a weapon) and this bothered Alfred enough that he looked for a way to leave a different legacy and people would remember him in a very different light. He used virtually all of his fortune to create the Noble prizes, which I think is how the man is best known today.
I am not sure about Henry Ford's legacy but that gigantic portrait of Adolph Hitler he had on his wall probably didn't help....
Brian
Henry Ford would have celebrated his 150th birthday this past July had he not died. There was much ado made of this though I missed it. If I would have been aware I would have protested any attempt to immortalize this man as was done. Do you ever wonder how many Americans have been killed because of his ability to make automobiles cheap enough that almost anyone could own one? Fords genius has caused death, pain and suffering. This evil thing, the automobile, has taken away mothers and fathers and sons and daughters from loved ones for years and it must be stopped. I think the first thing that should be done is we must stop talking about it. We must allow no discussion of the automobiles' merits or faults because it is evil and kills Americans. And it's Henry Ford's fault. So that's it. All better now.