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Stock Market Crash
The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America, Europe, and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. -
Pluto is Discovered
Pluto was discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh. -
U.S. gets the National Anthem
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the U.S. Navy in 1889, and by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931. -
ZIppo Lighters Intoduced
American George G. Blaisdell founded Zippo Manufacturing Company in 1932, and produced the first Zippo lighter in early 1933. -
Monopoly Board Game Created
By 1933, a variation on "The Landlord's Game" called Monopoly was the basis of the board game sold by Parker Brothers, beginning on February 6, 1935. The original version of the game in this format was based on streets in Atlantic City, New Jersey. -
Alcoholics Anonymous Founded
Wilson's first success came during a business trip to Akron, Ohio, where he was introduced to Dr. Robert Smith, a surgeon and Oxford Group member who was unable to stay sober. After thirty days of working with Wilson, Smith drank his last drink on June 10, 1935, the date marked by AA for its anniversaries. -
Golden Gate Bridge Opened
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the one-mile-wide, three-mile-long channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. -
March of Dimes Founded
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. -
Superman First Appears in Comics
Superman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, high school students living in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1933. They sold the character to Detective Comics, the future DC Comics, in 1938. -
Wizard of Oz Premier
The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland and featuring words and music by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg and Harold Arlen, receives its world premiere in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on this day in 1939. -
Helicopter Invented
The helicopter was invented by Igor Sikorsky and Paul Cornu. A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward, and laterally. -
Roosevelt's Third Election
On November 5, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won a third term in office—an unprecedented act that would be barred by a constitutional amendment a decade later.
