Black Tuesday: The Day the Roaring Twenties Ended
On October 29, 1929, more than 16.4 million shares changed hands in a single panicked day, and the stock market collapse known as Black Tuesday lit the fuse of the Great Depression.
Tagged: great-depression
Depression-Era Los Angeles Invented the Modern Olympics
On July 30, 1932, Los Angeles opened the Xth Olympiad in the depths of the Great Depression — and quietly reinvented how the Olympic Games are staged forever.
I Came, I Saw, I Was Conquered
On September 30, 1935, Franklin Roosevelt dedicated Hoover Dam before 10,000 people in 102-degree heat — and called it mankind's greatest feat.
Pass Go: The Day Parker Brothers Dealt Out Monopoly
On November 5, 1935, Parker Brothers began marketing Monopoly, turning a Depression-era parlor game about Atlantic City real estate into the best-selling board game of all time.
The Day Nevada Legalized Gambling — and Las Vegas Was Born
On March 19, 1931, Nevada governor Fred Balzar signed the bill legalizing commercial gambling, launching the industry that built Las Vegas.
FDR's First Fireside Chat, March 12, 1933
On the evening of March 12, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt went on the radio to explain the banking crisis in plain words — and invented a new kind of presidential leadership.
The Bridge They Said Couldn't Be Built
On January 5, 1933, with America deep in the Great Depression, workers broke ground on the Golden Gate Bridge — a single 4,200-foot leap across a strait engineers had called unspannable.
Pedestrian Day: The Golden Gate Bridge Opens to the World
On May 27, 1937, some 200,000 people walked, skated, and danced across the Golden Gate Bridge on its first day — before a single car was allowed.
The Ambush That Ended Bonnie and Clyde
On May 23, 1934, a six-man posse led by Texas Ranger Frank Hamer ambushed and killed outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow on a Louisiana road.