David Dunbar Buick was born - On this day in history

Scottish inventor David Dunbar Buick, founder of the Buick Motor Company, was born on 17 September 1854. Buick was born at Green Street in Arbroath and emigrated to the USA with his family at the age of two. He left school at the age of fifteen and went into plumbing, helping the struggling company that he worked for to recover its fortunes thanks to his business skills and inventions.

In 1899, Buick founded the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company which was originally intended to supply motors for agricultural use rather than for the motor trade. In 1903 he created the Buick Motor Company which would become General Motors, one of the biggest names in the motor trade.

Sadly for Buick, he left BuickMotors in 1906 before he was able to capitalise on the company's success and ended his career a poor man after trying several different business ventures.