In what year did the Great Depression begin?

• A. 1929
• B. 1933
• C. 1919
• D. 1941

Answer: (A)

The beginning of the Great Depression is tied to a specific historic turning point: the stock market crash of 1929. In October 1929, a rapid fall in stock prices shattered public confidence, leading to bank failures, loss of savings, and widespread unemployment. This shock set off years of economic hardship that defined the early 1930s. While the Depression continued for a decade, the year 1929 marks the onset of that era. As context, 1933 is viewed as a turning point when new reforms and relief programs from the New Deal started to take effect; 1919 happens in the post–World War I period before the crash, and 1941 is associated with increased production during World War II that helped lift the economy out of the Depression.