The Great Depression began in the United States in 1929 after a period of economic boom following World War I. The stock market crash of October 1929 marked the beginning of the Great Depression, which lasted until the late 1930s. The crash was followed by a downward economic spiral of business closures, bank failures, and high unemployment. The economic downturn was further exacerbated by the Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms that devastated agricultural production in the Great Plains region.
