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Stock Market Crashes
The stock market crashes, marking the end of six years of unparalleled prosperity for most sectors of the American economy. The "crash" begins on October 24 (Black Thursday). By October 29, stock prices will plummet and banks will be calling in loans. An estimated $30 billion in stock values will "disappear" by mid-November. -
Rise In Unemployment
More than 3.2 million people are unemployed, up from 1.5 million before the October, 1929 crash. President Hoover remains optimistic, however, stating that "all the evidences indicate that the worst effects of the crash upon unemployment will have passed during the next 60 days." -
Immediate Payment of "Bonus" Funds
Texas congressman Wright Patman introduces legislation authorizing immediate payment of "bonus" funds to veterans of World War I. The "bonus bill" had been passed in 1924. It allots bonuses, in the form of "adjusted service certificates," equaling $1 a day for each day of service in the U.S., and $1.25 for each day overseas. President Hoover is against payment of these funds, saying it would cost the Treasury $4 billion. -
Food Riots
"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. One of the store's owners pulls out a gun to stop the looters, but is leapt upon and has his arm broken. The "riot" is brought under control by 100 policemen. Seven people are arrested. -
New York's Bank of the United States
New York's Bank of the United States collapses. At the time of the collapse, the bank had over $200 million in deposits, making it the largest single bank failure in the nation's history. -
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Congress establishes the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The R.F.C. is allowed to lend $2 billion to banks, insurance companies, building and loan associations, agricultural credit organizations and railroads. Critics of the R.F.C. call it "the millionaires' dole." -
Bonus Bill
More than 300 World War I veterans leave Portland, Oregon en route to Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to pass the Bonus Bill. It will take them 18 days to reach Washington, D.C. -
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) is established. Designed as a relief and employment program for young men between the ages of 17 and 27, the CCC is made up of groups of young men who work in national forests, parks, and federal land for nine-month stints. FDR envisions the program as a kind of volunteer "army." The first 250,000 young men are housed in 1,468 camps around the country. At its p -
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is created. A federally run hydroelectric power program, the TVA Act is considered a huge experiment in social planning. The TVA also builds dams, produces and sells fertilizer, reforests the Tennessee Valley area, and develops recreational lands. Opponents of the TVA call it "communistic to its core." -
Ferderal Agricultural Program
In an effort to stabilize prices, the Federal Agricultural Program orders the slaughter of more than 6 million pigs. Many citizens protest this action since most of the meat went to waste. -
Three-Day Dust Storm
A three-day dust storm blows an estimated 350 million tons of soil off of the terrain of the West and Southwest and deposits it as far east as New York and Boston. Some east coast cities are forced to ignite street lamps during the day to see through the blowing dust. -
Works Progress Administration
FDR signs legislation creating the Works Progress Administration. (Its name would be changed in 1939 to the Work Projects Administration.) The program employs more than 8.5 million individuals in 3,000 counties across the nation. These individuals, drawing a salary of only $41.57 a month, will improve or create highways, roads, bridges, and airports. In addition, the WPA will put thousands of artists -- writers, painters, theater directors, and sculptors -- to work on various projects. -
Wagner National Labor Relations Act
FDR signs the Wagner National Labor Relations Act. The goal of the act is to validate union authority and supervise union elections. -
Social Security Act
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. No longer could `rugged individualism' convincingly insist that government, though obliged to provide a climate favorable for the growth of business profits, had no responsibility whatever for the welfare of the hu -
FDR Elected For Second Term
Defeating Kansas Governor Alfred M. Landon, FDR is elected to his second term as president, winning every state in the Union except Maine and Vermont. -
Strike at General Motors Plant
United Automobile Workers strike at the General Motors Plant in Flint, Michigan. The strike turns violent when strikers clash with company-hired police. -
Memorial Day Massacre
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." -
FDR Elected To Third Term
Franklin Roosevelt is elected to an unprecedented third term as president, defeating Wendell Willkie. FDR's victory is seen as proof of the nation's support of his war policies. Roosevelt lobbies Congress to pass the Lend-Lease Act, which will aid Britain in its struggle to fend off Germany.
