Entrepreneur. He was an American businessman, who was one of the four original founders of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, a motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1903. The company survived the cheaper-made Model-T Ford of the 1920s, the Great Depression of the 1930s and over the years, several strong competitors, remaining since 1953 the only motorcycle manufacturer in the United States in the 21st century. Mainly being self-taught, he had become a skilled mechanic and machinist working for the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad. He learned about the idea of building a motorcycle when he came home from Kansas for his brother William's wedding that April. Many had attempted to build a motorized bicycle, meeting the big problem of making a motor small enough to mount on the frame of a bicycle, and if a motorized bicycle could be invented, could this new machine be produced fast enough to make a profit. In 1903 he joined with the idea of making motorcycles. With his two brothers, William and Arthur, and his friend William "Bill" Harley, he built the first Harley-Davidson "factory" in a converted ten-by-fifteen-foot shed in the Davidsons' backyard. With the three brothers holding the majority of the shares, it only can be theorized why the company was named Harley-Davidson instead of Davidson-Harley. With the factory owners seeking expansion, the Davidson brothers' bachelor great uncle, James McLay, an 80-year-old beekeeper, agreed to loan the company $170 to build the 2,380-square-foot shop. He and Arthur signed the promissory note on July 6, 1904. The company opened its first dealership in 1905. With 18 employees, the company was incorporated in 1907. By 1909 the company was making 1,149 bikes, including 27 of their trademark V-Twin engine models with a top speed of 60 miles per hour. The three Davidson brothers and Harley became the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, with each having their specialized role in the company's success and his role was president. In 1911, he named his son Gordon McLay Davidson, in honor of his maternal grandmother, Ellen McLay McFarlane and great uncle, James "Uncle Honey" McLay. By 1920 the racing motorcycle was nicknamed "The Hog," and a proven champion of speed as well as the dangerous 3-day endurance races over 400 miles. A member of the Chicago Motorcycle Club, he was known for being the winner of early motorcycle races, receiving the 7th Annual Federation of American Motorcyclists Diamond Medal on June 29, 1908 for a race through New York's Catskill Mountains. He had racing experience from his high school days of racing bicycles. His wins gave the company the needed free publicity in newspaper coverage for an increase in sales. He became a pioneer in motorcycle racing and by the 1930s, Harley-Davidson was into dirt biking. This was the beginning of motorcycle racing becoming a favorite American organized sport. In 1973 the factory was moved to York, Pennsylvania but the old site remains the international headquarters of Harley-Davidson. In January of 2023, the 1908 Strap Tank Harley-Davidson was sold for $935,000 after auction at the Mecum Auction in Las Vegas, according to the New York "Times-Union." In 1910 he married Emma Rosehien and the couple had three sons. He had the longest-tenured of serving as the president of the company. Upon his death in 1942, his nephew William H. Davidson became the company's president. In 1998 the Davidson brothers and Bill Harley were inducted into the American Motorcycle Hall of Fame. For making a positive contribution to how Americans work and live, he and his brothers William and Walter, along with William Harley were posthumously inducted in the Labor Hall of Fame in 2004. The made-for-television mini-series "Harley and the Davidsons" aired on the Disney Channel in 2006. Several biographies of the Harley-Davidson co-founders have been published. In the 21st century, the Harley-Davison motorcycle business is worth over six billion dollars.