Post WW1 Worldwide Great Depression

End of the Great Depression

1940 BCE

FDR asks Congress to authorize $3.75 billion in federal spending to stimulate the sagging economy. In little over a year, following Japan's December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. will enter the war in the Pacific and in Europe. The war effort will jump-start U.S. industry and effectively end the Great Depression.

United Automobile Workers strike

1937 BCE

United Automobile Workers strike at the General Motors Plant in Flint, Michigan. The strike turns very violent when strikers clash with company-hired police officers.

Memorial Day Massacre

1937 BCE

At Republic Steel's South Chicago Plant, workers and their families try to combine a picnic with a rally and demonstration. Ten people are killed and a dozen more are wounded in the "Memorial Day Massacre."

Social Security Act

1935 BCE

The Social Security Act of 1935 is signed into law by FDR. Among the most controversial stipulations of the act is that Social Security will be financed through a payroll tax. Historian Kenneth S. Davis calls the signing of the act "one of the major turning points of American history."

Works Project Administration

1934 BCE

FDR signs legislation creating the Works Progress Administration. The program employs more than 8.5 million individuals in 3,000 counties across the nation.

Roosevelt Inaugurated

1933 BCE

Before a crowd of 100,000 at the Capitol Plaza in Washington, D.C., Franklin Delano Roosevelt is inaugurated. FDR tells the crowd, "The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it."

Unemployed March

1932 BCE

Three thousand unemployed workers march on the Ford Motor Company's Plant in River Rouge, Michigan. Dearborn police and Ford's company guards attack the workers, killing 4 and injuring many more.

Bonus Pay

1932 BCE

Determined to collect their "bonus" pay for service, 15,000-25,000 WW1 veterans gathered and began setting up encampments near the White House and the Capitol in Washington D.C. The bill falls to defeat by the Senate.

Food Riots

1931 BCE

"Food Riots" begin to break out in parts of the U.S. In Minneapolis, several hundred men and women smash the windows of a grocery market and make off with fruit , canned goods, bacon, and ham. The "riot" is brought under control by 100 policemen. Seven people are arrested.

Unemployment

1930 BCE

More than 3.2 million people are unemployed, up from 1.5 million before October, 1929 crash. President Hoover remains optimistic, however, stating that "all the evidence indicate that the worst effects of the crash upon unemployment will have passed during the next 60 days.

Stock Market

1929 BCE

The stock market crashes, marking the end of 6 years of unparalleled prosperity for most sectors of the American economy. On October 24- Black Thursday - stock prices plummet and panic selling ensues as people try to sell stock for any price they can get.