Today in History, August 14th
On August 14, 1935, FDR signed the Social Security Act. Plus Truman's announcement of Japan's surrender and Pakistan's independence.
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August 14 is best known for 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, creating a national system of old-age benefits and unemployment insurance. The date also saw President Harry S. Truman announce Japan’s surrender in 1945 and Pakistan become an independent country in 1947.
The big story: FDR signs the Social Security Act (1935)
Roosevelt came to the White House in the depths of the Great Depression, worried about workers with no job security and about what old age would hold for them. He set up a Committee on Economic Security in June 1934 to find an answer. Its plan became the Social Security Act, which Roosevelt signed on August 14, 1935, with leaders of Congress gathered around him. The law did several things at once. It created federal-state unemployment insurance, gave states matching money for pensions to needy people 65 and older, funded aid for dependent children and the blind, and set up a federal retirement program for workers. Under that program, monthly checks would start no earlier than January 1, 1942, and would range from $10 to $85. Plenty of people were left out, including farmworkers, domestic workers, the self-employed and nonprofit employees. Roosevelt hoped the law would keep older Americans out of poverty. It grew into a safety net for retirees, people with disabilities and the families of workers who die.
More events on August 14
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1457 | In Mainz, Germany, printers finished the first book in Europe to carry a colophon naming its printer. |
| 1795 | President George Washington signed the Jay Treaty with Britain, aimed at easing tensions between the two countries. |
| 1880 | Work on the great Gothic cathedral in Cologne, Germany, begun in 1248, was finally completed. |
| 1900 | An international force captured Beijing to put down the Boxer Rebellion. |
| 1917 | China gave up its neutrality and declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I. |
| 1941 | Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter, a joint statement of their goals for the world after the war. |
| 1945 | President Harry S. Truman announced that Japan had surrendered. |
| 1947 | Pakistan became a sovereign state, ending British rule there. |
| 1985 | Michael Jackson bought the publishing rights to most of the Beatles’ songs for $47 million. |
| 1994 | French agents captured the Venezuelan militant known as Carlos the Jackal in Khartoum, Sudan. |
| 2003 | A power blackout hit the Northeastern United States. |
| 2016 | Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the 100 meters at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. |
Born on August 14
- 1742: Pius VII, pope from 1800 to 1823, born Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti in Cesena, in the Papal States.
- 1945: Steve Martin, American comedian, actor, writer and musician, born in Waco, Texas.
- 1966: Halle Berry, American actress and the first African American to win the Academy Award for best actress, born in Cleveland, Ohio.
Sources
- FDR signs Social Security Act, History.com
- Historical Background and Development of Social Security, Social Security Administration
- This Day in History: August 14, History.com
- On This Day: August 14, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Pius VII, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Steve Martin, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Halle Berry, Encyclopaedia Britannica
