Facts About the Great Depression

These facts about the great depression will give you a better understanding of what living during that time period was really like. These facts explain everything from when was the great depression to the great depression unemployment rate, to life for the children.

1. When Was the Great Depression? It lasted from 1929 to 1941, 12 years.

2. Nearly 50% of the children of the great depression did not have adequate food, shelter, or medical care.

4. Bums lived in villages called “Hovertowns” as a sign of anger against the president’s inability to get the economy back on track.

5. The first week of the depression the stock market lost $30 billion dollars, more than the US government spent in WW2. By the end of the depression the stock market fell 89%.

6. 750,000 farmers declared bankruptcy.

7. The Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge where created during this time and created some jobs in America.

8. The great depression unemployment rate reached 24.9% Toledo, Ohio got hit especially hard and reached an unemployment rate of 80%

9. Every major country abandoned the gold standard in order to print more money.

10. WW2 eventually pulled the US out of the depression by creating new jobs.

Who Faired the Best During the Great Depression?

So, Who Faired the Best During the Great Depression? It may come to a shook to some people that although poverty hit record highs, 40% of people in the US where not affected by the depression and a few even prospered during that time.

Movie theaters became a booming industry. Between 60 and 80 million American’s went to the movies each week. Anything that helped people escape from reality got a boost in business.

Joseph F Kennedy made a killing in the real estate market during the time giving him the money to finance his son’s presidency campaign. Jessie Livermore also made an incredible 100 million dollars in the stock market by calling the top.

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