THIS DAY IN ECONOMIC HISTORY
February
Embargo Act Struggle
Jefferson settles issues of trade with Britain and France in order to avoid conflict with the warring countries and to protect American merchant interests.
RFC Gets Up And Running
As part of FDR's "New Deal" the Reconstruction Finance Corporation is created to give loans to banks and other financial institutions in an effort to start bring the economy out of the Depression.
Income Tax Becomes Effective
The sixteenth amendment to the constitution, which authorizes a federal income tax, was ratified; this was pushed through in part because of tariff reform.
Poll Tax Ban
The 24th amendment to the constitution was passed, outlawing the poll tax, a piece of legislation intended to oppress the voting rights of African American and poor voters.
Steel Still Strong
Riding the success from increased production of WWII the American Steel industry continues producing at record levels. On this day in 1953 the industry reports that, in the past year, as a whole, they produced 117,500,000 short tons of steel.
Seattle Gets Going Again
A five day strike involving around 60,000 Seattle union laborers, which basically shutdown the city, comes to a long awaited end.
Courts Ruling Ruffles Feathers
The Supreme Court ruling in Hepburn v. Griswold makes the Legal Tender Act illegal, as a result the U.S. is not able to repay debts created before 1962 with money that was created under the Act. This problem makes Pres. Grant very angry so he uses his executive powers to overrule the Supreme Court once again making the Legal Tender Act legal.
Ex-IM Bank Opens
As another "New Deal" program the Export-Import Bank is approved by Congress on this day. Its purpose is to breathe life back into the U.S.'s export business.
Your Sins Forgiven
With huge debts owed to the United States after WWI by countries such as England, France, and Italy Congress gets together and rounds the number off to $11.5 billion dollars to be paid over sixty-two years, at two percent interest. Years later even this plan would turn out to be unrealistic.
CBS Goes To Nashville
On this day CBS's parent company finalizes the purchase of the The Nasville Network and Country Music Television for a reported $1.5 billion in stock.
Expedition Act Passed
As the brain child of President Teddy Roosevelt the Act was designed to fast-track anti-trust suits that were filed in U.S. circuit courts. Among the biggest successes of this act was the eventual break up of Standard Oil.
Well Known UMWA Leader Born
On this date John L. Lewis was born. Lewis' claim to fame comes as the leader of the influential United Mine Workers Association (UMWA). Rising from the ranks of the Illinois coal mines he started on his forty year struggle for workers' rights.
Junk Bonds Junk The Company
Drexel Burnham Lambert Group files for bankruptcy after their investment in junk bonds finally catches up with them when the economy makes a turn for the worse and a government investigation results in a $650 million fine.
Commerce And Labor Department Born
On this day in 1903 Congress approved the creation of the Department of Commerce and Labor. It was the idea of President Theodore Roosevelt and would be headed by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The main task of the department was to regulate the operations of large companies and monitor their trade practices.
Bank Of U.S. Part Deux
Former chief of the Federalized Bank of U.S. gets a charter from the state of Pennsylvania to start the bank for a second time under private ownership. It will eventually shut down for a second and final time in 1841.
Agricultural Adjustment Act, Revised
After a first such bill was deemed unconstitutional Congress got to work on another bill designed to bring relief to U.S. farmers. What they got was the Agricultural Adjustment Act.
Massey Calls It Quits
CompuServe chief Robert Massey submitted his resignation on this day in 1997. Bad business decisions resulted in falling stock prices, financial problems, and the eventual resignation.
Scandal Over The Iron Horse
Credit Mobilier, a construction company started by Massachusetts Representative Oakes Ames, was implicated in bribing Union Pacific officials to get a large railroad building contract. When he did get the contract he then charged the government $100 million, double what the job actually cost. Ames was eventually figured out and censured by the House of Representatives after being indicted on bribery charges.
Newspaper Strike Comes To An End
The Detroit News and "Detroit Free Press" and six unions end a nineteen-month strike. The papers also agreed to give 2,000 striking workers jobs back, but not necessarily their old jobs. This sparks a whole other controversy involving the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Philadelphia And Reading Railroad Hits The Skids
On this day the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad goes into receivership with debts of $125 million. This was the years' biggest hit to the railroad industry in a year where seventy-four companies went bankrupt. It was also a taste of what was to come financially for the nation as a whole.
Inflaton Watchdog Created
Pres. Harry Truman created the Office of Economic Stabiliztion (OES) on this day in 1946. The office was designed to watch prices and try to keep inflation down as the nation shifted from a war-time economy to a peace-time economy.
Original Five-And-Dime Opens
Frank Winfield Woolworth opens the Great 5 Cents Store in Utica, New York on this day in 1879. This store soon fails but Woolworth finds success using the same concept in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, selling nothing for over a dime. In 1912 Woolworth's stores became known as F. W. Woolworth. With the rise of stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and K-mart Woolworth's stores eventually closed in 1997.
Banking Baron Born
On this day in 1743, Mayer Amschel Rothschild is born in Frankfurt, Germany. Mayer and his five sons living around Europe started building the family reputation in banking. The family used things like the French Revolution and other problems in Europe for financial gain.
Morrill Tariff Act Passed
The Act, sponsored by Congressman Justin Morrill, raised import duties to around 47%. The Act ultimately protected industrialists and lined their pockets.
Income Tax Is Passed
On this day in 1913 the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment effectively cleared the way for the creation of the income tax.
Congress: Says One Thing, Does Another
After earlier allowing employers to have foreign workers admitted to the country to work for them Congress passes the Contract Labor Law. This law cracks down on employers who use immigrant labor, it is designed to help the rise of industry and westward expansion.
Glass-Steagall Act Passed
The Glass-Steagall Act was passed in response to the shortages in gold, because people were stockpiling it to get through the Depression. Foreign governments were also pulling out of the gold standard. The Glass-Steagall Act was designed to give more power to the Federal Reserve Board, allowing them to extend credit, and let them release some of the governments gold to businesses.
Silver Makes Way Into United States Currency
On this day in 1878 congress passed the Bland-Allison Act. This bill called for silver coinage in limited doses.
Black Market = Good Money
The Office of Price Administration announced on this day that over $1 billion had been made on the American black market in 1943 alone. Profits would only increase as rationing continued throughout WWII.