Great Depression
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. Explore every angle of the crisis and how it affected everyday Americans, from the stock market crash of 1929, to the Dust Bowl, to FDR’s response to the economic calamity—the New Deal.
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By 1929, a perfect storm of unlucky factors led to the start of the worst economic downturn in U.S. history.
As left the drought-ravaged Midwest, American-born migrants were viewed as disease-ridden intruders who sponged off the government.
As Americans confronted a banking crisis, the Great Depression and then World War II, FDR talked to Americans through radio broadcasts.
The Hoover Dam, LaGuardia Airport and the Bay Bridge were all part of FDR's New Deal investment.
3 Pillars of FDR’s New Deal
How Artists Helped End the Great Depression
History Shorts: How Artists Helped End the Great Depression
By giving support to an army of creative workers, the government was able to lift the prospects of an entire nation.
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The concept of retirement took hold after President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the Social Security Act of 1935.
The buttery, salty snack wasn’t always a movie-must.
Theories ranged from negligence to sabotage to an 'act of God.'
The 1937 Hindenburg disaster shocked the world as a German airship burst into flames, killing 36 and ending the age of zeppelins.
Explore lesser-known truths about the Hindenburg disaster, including media myths, and how politics shaped the fate of the airship.
Uncovering the woman behind the famous Depression-era photograph.
The Dust Bowl’s worst storm blotted out the sun and terrified the Great Plains’ already struggling population.
FDR's New Deal aimed to revive the American economy.
Drought, farming practices and economic forces caused the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, devastating the Great Plains during the Great Depression.
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from the stock market crash of 1929 to 1939.
With millions of Americans unable to find employment, working wives became scapegoats.
