Great Depression in the United States/Timelines

(For brief notes on the New Deal legislative measures, and institutions referred to see the Addendum subpage of the article on the New Deal [1])

1921-23

Post-war recession [2].

1921

Warren G Harding becomes President [3]

1922

The Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act [4]

1923

Calvin Coolidge becomes President [5].

Start of "Coolidge Prosperity" [6].

1924

1925

Florida land boom bubble bursts [7]

1926

1927

Long Island meeting of central bankers to discuss UK plea to help the £ by raising the US discount rate [8].

Federal Reserve Bank cuts its discount rate cut from 4% to 3% and purchases US government securities [9][10].

Renewed economic upturn

1928

Death of Benjamin Strong, Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York [11]

Federal Reserve Bank raises its discount rate to 5%

1929

Herbert Hoover becomes President [12]

August

Start of a downturn in economic activity [13]

Federal Reserve Bank raises discount rate to 6%.

October

The stock market crash of 1929.

24 Black Thursday DJIA falls by 13%

28 Black Monday DJIA falls by 12.8%

29 Black Tuesday DJIA falls by 11.7%

1930

June

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act [14][15]

December

Failure of the Bank of United States [16].

1931

Banking crisis, with the failure of over 1800 banks.

Federal Reserve raises rediscount rates.

1932

Chicago Banking Panic [17].

Revenue Act: income tax rates increased and allowances reduced [18].

Reconstruction Finance Corporation [19] created

Federal Home Loan Act [20]

Recorded unemployment reaches 25 percent.

1933

Trough of depression and start of recovery [21]

March

Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt [22]

4-day banking holiday (temporarily closes all U.S. banks using the Emergency Banking Act) 1933[23].

Reforestation Relief Act.

April

Departure from gold standard [24]

May

Federal Emergency Relief Act [25].

Agricultural Adjustment Act.

Federal Securities Act.

June

National Employment System Act.

National Industrial Recovery Act[26].

The National Recovery Administration and the Public Works Administration [27]

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [28] created

Approximately 4,000 commercial banks and 1,700 "Savings and Loans" fail.

1934

Gold Reserve Act

President fixes $/gold rate at $35 an ounce (devalued from $20)

Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act [29]

Social Security Act: unemployment compensation introduced [30].

GNP rises 7.7 percent, and unemployment falls to 21.7 percent.

1935

GNP grows another 8.1 percent, and unemployment falls to 20.1 percent.

1936

1937

Recession of 1937 [31]: industrial production down 40 percent; unemployment rises by 4 million; stock market drops by 48 percent.