8 April 1935: Congress funds the Works Progress Administration

On April 8, 1935 Roosevelt signed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, nearly $5 billion for public works and the largest peacetime spending bill in US history at that point. It created the Works Progress Administration, which went on to employ millions of people building roads, bridges, schools and airports. Economists still argue about how much it shortened the Depression, but much of the concrete is still in use.

The lesson: In a deep slump, government spending can matter to markets as much as anything companies do.