The Social Security System was created to protect Americans from economic disasters like the Great Depression

The Social Security Act was formed to protect retired workers amid the Great Depression

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal created new government agencies and programs in the wake of the Great Depression, including the Social Security Act.

The New Deal shifted economic and social authority to the federal government

Franklin D. Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression expanded federal power through economic regulation and social welfare programs, permanently reshaping federalism by shifting responsibility for financial security to Washington while leaving states to administer many of these programs.

The Depression-era Social Security program assigned every US citizen an account number

Many of the Social Security functions we know today are the result of multiple amendments to the Social Security Act that have been passed in the years since the act’s initial creation in 1935. As Social Security as we know it today was being conceptualized, Democrats opted to make it an insurance program rather than a welfare one to assuage Republicans.

The 1935 Social Security Act drew inspiration from European social insurance models

Many of these, such as German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's 1889 retirement system, emerged decades before America adopted them. This article dives into the modern history of economic security and the key legislation that created Social Security.

The National Housing Act established the Federal Housing Administration

During the Great Depression, 1,000 homes were foreclosed on per day, and half of the mortgages across the country defaulted. To address this crisis, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Housing Act. It established the Federal Housing Administration, which is still around today and helps protect lenders and buyers.

This poster helped publicize the Social Security Act

When the Social Security Act was passed in 1935, this poster was distributed across the US as part of a publicity campaign to help spread the news about how Social Security benefits for retirees worked.

Social Security supports retirees, the disabled, and survivors

The Social Security Administration is responsible for more than just retirement benefits. Outside of the more well-known use case of retirement benefits, the SSA is also responsible for disability, family, and survivor benefits, supplemental security income, and more.

Before Social Security, elderly Americans relied on family support, limited state pensions, or company-sponsored pensions

Before Social Security benefits were available to American retirees, they had to find other ways to get by. Pensions were only available to roughly 15% of workers, and most elderly Americans went without meaningful economic security.

Social Security is one of the most popular government programs

In a recent Pew Research Center survey of US adults, 79% said Social Security benefits shouldn’t be reduced in any way. This view is broadly shared across ages, races, political affiliations, and income brackets.

The iconic National Parks posters were the product of a New Deal arts initiative

Ranklin Delano Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration in 1935 as a part of his New Deal. The program was intended to both create American jobs and inspire regular citizens through art. The Federal Art Project, as a part of the WPA, employed over 5,000 artists to work on projects, including the now-iconic National Parks posters.

Social Security’s financial operations are handled through two federal trust funds

One is called the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund, and the other is called the Disability Insurance trust fund. Combined, these two trust funds were valued at roughly $2.7T as of the end of 2024.

Why the SEC was started

The Securities and Exchange Commission was created during the Great Depression to restore public trust in financial markets after the 1929 crash. Established in 1934, it enforces transparency, investigates fraud, and protects investors by requiring companies to disclose accurate information and holding violators accountable.

Frances Perkins was the first woman in the US to hold a cabinet position

President Franklin D. Roosevelt named her the United States Secretary of Labor in 1933. In her cabinet seat, she not only helped establish the first federal minimum wage in the US, but also the Social Security Act.

The US unemployment rate soared to over 24% during the Great Depression

The Great Depression was a devastating and prolonged economic recession that followed the crash of the US stock market in 1929.

Consumers reported losing more than $126M to Social Security scams in 2023

This article includes tips on how to spot a Social Security scam, including information about what the real Social Security Administration will and will not do. For instance, the Social Security Administration will never threaten someone with benefits suspension or bank account seizure if they do not comply with a request.

The Federal Reserve fought the Great Recession primarily with quantitative easing and repurchasing agreements

During the Great Recession, the Fed stimulated the economy by buying people and businesses' debt, notably through purchasing mortgage-backed securities and buying bonds with slim margins. The two processes, quantitative easing and repurchase agreements, both helped increase the amount of money in the economy to increase consumer spending.

Hear Roosevelt's first 'Fireside Chat'

The president's casual radio addresses ditched the language of sloganeering and politiciking, intentionally framing the broadcasts as conversational explanations of current events and politics. The inaugural episode was broadcast in 1933, during the Great Depression, and outlined his plans to restore faith in the banking system.

The Bretton Woods economic order was built on Keynesian principles

Keynesian economics suggests that governments should actively manage economies to prevent downturns, promote employment, and regulate markets. The Bretton Woods institutions were created based on this belief that coordinated public intervention could prevent the economic crises of the 1930s.

The failures of the interwar period made the case for a new international system

After World War I, countries devalued their currencies, raised tariffs to block imports, and seized territory unchecked, with the international community unable to organize effectively to stop them. The result was a global depression and, eventually, another world war.

Roosevelt formally recognized the Soviet Union in 1933

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt formally recognized the Soviet Union—ending 16 years of nonrecognition and aiming to improve trade and stabilize relations amid growing global instability.

How the Great Depression still shapes the way Americans eat

From fortified foods to nutrition labels, the legacy of an early financial crisis lives on in kitchens across the United States. Ethnic foods with their (supposedly) hunger-triggering spices were vilified and considered “stimulants” along the lines of caffeine and so, in their stead came prune puddings, canned-meat stews, and dairy-heavy vegetable casseroles featuring America’s first fortified foods. Read more here.

After FDR was paralyzed by polio in 1921, Eleanor Roosevelt became active in politics and supported his political ambitions

FDR contracted polio at age 39 and permanently lost the use of his legs. Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded him to stay in politics, then took on the task of maintaining his public profile—attending events, building relationships, and serving as his "eyes, ears, and legs" across the country.

The 22nd Amendment was a reaction to Roosevelt's four terms

After Franklin D. Roosevelt won four elections, Congress moved to prevent future presidents from holding power indefinitely. Ratified in 1951, the 22nd Amendment set a firm two-term limit as a safeguard against extended presidencies.

The origin of the National Science Foundation and why World War II led to its founding

Before World War II, research institutions were funded by endowments or private companies whose priorities stifled the curiosity-driven science that fueled significant breakthroughs and innovation. The NSF was established in 1950 to promote independent scientific progress through basic research, which is focused on knowledge acquisition rather than commercial applications, conducted at national colleges and universities.

The Marshall Plan aimed to rebuild Europe and limit Soviet influence

Launched in 1948, the Marshall Plan provided over $12B (roughly $150B today) in US aid to help rebuild Western Europe. While framed as economic recovery, it also served as a Cold War tool—tying countries to the US and excluding the Soviet bloc.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Fear or disgust related to clusters of holes and cracks, called trypophobia, may stem from evolutionary processes to help us avoid pathogens.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.