- Fact 2 - The Great Depression
originated in the United States, under
President
Herbert Hoover, starting with the fall in stock
prices that began around September 4, 1929 and resulted in the
stock market crash of October 29, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday)
- Fact 3 - The Great Depression
spread to nearly every country in the
world although this
article focuses on the United States of America
- Fact 4 - On “Black Tuesday” the
stock market lost $14 billion, making the loss for that week 30
billion dollars
- Fact 5 - After the initial stock
market crash there were a wave of suicides
- Fact 6 - During the worst years of
the Depression (1933-1934) the overall jobless rate was 25%
- Fact 7 - 25% of people took wage
cuts or worked part time
- Fact 8 - gross national product
fell by almost 50%
- Fact 9 - During the Great
Depression 50% of children did not have adequate food, shelter,
or medical care
- Fact 10 - Nearly 750,000 farms were
lost through bankruptcy
- Fact 11 - Crime increased and
people were made homeless
- Fact 12 - During the Great
Depression bankers became so unpopular that bank robbers, such
as Bonnie and Clyde, became American folk heroes
- Fact 13 - Between 1929 and 1932 the
annual income of an average American family dropped by 40%
- Fact 14 - There were food riots
start in various parts of the United States
- Fact 15 - The Dust Bowl: There was
a terrible drought which has turned soil into dust. During the
Great depression a period of severe dust storms causing major
damage to farms. Millions of acres of farmland became useless
and hundreds of thousands of people became homeless
- Fact 16 - John Steinbeck wrote The
Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men about the lives of these
people and the devastating effects of the Dust Bowl.
- Fact 17 - World War 2 eventually
pulled the US out of the depression by creating new jobs.
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