Are today's economic woes going to spiral us into another one? We wouldn't touch that issue with a 10-foot pole, frankly -- so we're just going to stick with history for this quiz. Can you separate Great Depression fact from fiction?
Contrary to popular belief, the Great Depression didn't originate in the United States. It started with the economic collapse of Great Britain, which then caused the American stock market to crash.
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fiction
almost fact: The British collapse was actually caused by the economic instability of Western Europe, so technically it started there.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer
Nope. It was obviously a very complex situation, and the United States certainly wasn't the only country having economic trouble, but the Depression did originate in the States.
The stock market crash on Oct. 29, 1929 -- "Black Tuesday" -- wasn't really a sudden, one-day event.
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fiction
almost fact: "Black Monday" is actually the infamous day in question.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer
True. After a peak in September, the market had been heading downhill for weeks and finally crashed on \"Black Thursday,\" October 24. The collapse continued, and the next Tuesday was when people really started to panic and get out of the market.
Because of the Soviet Union's isolationist policies, it wasn't really affected by the Great Depression.
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fiction
almost fact: It was Hitler's Germany that was largely unaffected by the Depression.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer
The Soviets had plenty of problems during this period, but because the country was basically cut off from the rest of the world, its issues weren't really related to the Great Depression.