The period of the 1930s is known in world history as the Great Depression. The economic depression resulted in the rise of authoritarian regimes throughout the world.
The Great Depression was the most severe worldwide economic depression of the 20^th century.
In the United States it began after the fall in stock prices around Sept. 4, 1929, and the stock market crash of Oct. 29, 1929.
Unemployment peaked in early 1933 at 25 percent nationwide. A drought and severe erosion in the Midwest resulted in the Dust Bowl, causing thousands of persons to leave their farms.
Businesses and families defaulted on record numbers of loans and more than 5,000 banks failed.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans found themselves homeless.
Authoritarian regimes emerged in Europe and South America, most notably the Third Reich in Germany. Ethiopia was invaded by Italy and Poland was invaded by Germany. China was in the midst of a civil war when the country was invaded by Japan. The Spanish Civil War occurred from 1936 to 1939 and Francisco Franco emerged as the leader of an authoritarian dictatorship in Spain. These actions were the beginning of World War II.
The 1930s also saw new technologies, particularly in aviation, radio, film and photography. The Empire State Building opened in 1931 in New York City and the Golden Gate Bridge was completed in San Francisco in 1937. Air mail service crossed the Atlantic, radar was invented, the 3M company marketed Scotch tape, frozen vegetables were packaged by Clarence Birdseye. and RCA Victor introduced the first long-playing phonograph record.
There were many Federal programs began to help economically and to create employment. Examples include the Agricultural Adjustment Act, Civilian Conservation Corps, Farm Credit Administration, Home Owners Loan Corporation, Tennessee Valley Authority, Public Works Administration, National Industrial Recovery Act, Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project, Public Works of Art Project and the Social Security Act.
The 21^st Amendment was passed that ended Prohibition. The FBI was established with J. Edgar Hoover as the first director.
Radio was the dominant mass media. Swing music became popular about 1935 and began to replace jazz. Blues music was extremely popular. Country music continued to rise in popularity and folk music was also on the rise.
Some popular musicians included Roy Acuff, Andrews Sisters, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Gene Autry, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Carter Family, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Durante, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Billie Holliday, Ink Spots, Lead Belly, Robert Johnson, Al Jolson, Glenn Miller, Cole Porter, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Bessie Smith, Kate Smith, Rudy Vallee and Ethel Waters.
Full color films began in Hollywood and more than 50 classic films were made. The most popular were “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz.” One of the most notable plays was Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.”
Radio, film and theater entertainers included John Barrymore, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Frank Capra, Charlie Chaplin, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Henry Fonda, Joan Fontaine, Olivia De Havilland, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, Jean Harlow, Katherine Hepburn, Bob Hope, Boris Karloff, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Ethel Merman, Laurence Olivier, Edward G. Robinson, Ginger Rogers, Mickey Rooney, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, Shirley Temple, the Three Stooges, Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Orson Welles and Mae West.
Sports, particularly baseball and boxing, were still popular. Some of the most notable sports figures included Joe DiMaggio, Dizzy Dean and Lou Gehrig in baseball, Joe Louis in boxing, Bobby Jones in golf, Buster Crabbe in swimming, Babe Didrikson and Jesse Owens in track and Bobby Riggs in tennis.
Notable writers included F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Harper Lee, T.H. White, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Aldous Huxley. Raymond Chandler began writing crime fiction.
Superman appeared in comic books in 1938 and Batman appeared in 1939.

Great Depression in Henderson County