Great Depression FactsNovember 15, 2009: Many of the nation’s parks, highways, and bridges were built during the Great Depression, projects designed and overseen by the WPA as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal to put Americans to work.
October 20, 2009: Social Security, a program that continues to this day, was introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the midst of the Great Depression.
September 5, 2009: The “Roaring Twenties” weren’t roaring for everyone. By 1929, 1% of Americans controlled 40% of the wealth in this country.
August 15, 2009: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was formed in 1934 to insure deposits in banks and restore customers’ faith in the American banking system.
July 5, 2009: After the stock market crash in 1929, it took 27 years to reach pre-crash levels.
June 28, 2009: In 1939, the unemployment rate in America had dropped from a high of 25% to 15%, largely due to the New Deal programs introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
June 21, 2009: Tuesday, October 29, 1929 is known as Black Tuesday because of the plunge the stock market took, and it largely symbolizes the start of the Great Depression, though the economy had been in decline for at least six months prior to that date.
June 14, 2009: By 1933, more than 11,000 of the nation’s 25,000 American banks had shuttered, victims of the Great Depression.
June 7, 2009: Hoovervilles were the catchphrase for the shantytowns that cropped up across the United States, as homeless Americans improvised with scraps, abandoned cars, and packing crates.
May 31, 2009: At its highest point during the Great Depression, unemployment reached 25% (in 1933).
May 25, 2009: The Great Depression began in 1929 and ended in 1941 when America prepared to enter World War II.
May 12, 2009: The Great Depression began in 1929 and ended in 1941 when America prepared to enter World War II.
May 8, 2009: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “First Hundred Days” took place in March, April, and May of 1933 and marked his attempt to stem the economic bloodbath that the Great Depression had become.
May 5, 2009: Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the United States, served from 1928-1932, and many economists cite his lax monetary and fiscal policies as a cause of the Great Depression.
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