( also the Depression )
the period of severe economic failure in most countries of the world that lasted from 1929 until World War II . It began in the US when the New York Stock Exchange fell on 29 October 1929, known as Black Tuesday . Many businesses and banks failed and millions of people lost their jobs. President Franklin D Roosevelt improved the situation with his New Deal (1) policy, but the Great Depression was only ended by industrial production for the war.