Henry J. Kaiser Builds Hoover Dam and U.S. Warships - HISTORY

See how Henry Kaiser's love for a young lady spurred him to build the Hoover Dam and the great military war ships.

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In a This Day in History video, learn that on July 7, 1930, construction began on the Hoover Dam. Twenty-thousand unemployed laborers happily took on the job, but it was a grueling and dangerous task between the scorching desert heat and constant dynamite blasts. When finished, Hoover was the largest dam in the world, standing 726 feet high.

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Herbert Hoover, America’s 31st president, took office in 1929, the same year the U.S. economy plummeted into the Great Depression.

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