Federal Reserve Act Signed: America's Central Bank Born
Woodrow Wilson signed it at 6:02 PM on December 23rd, two days before Christmas, when most Americans weren't paying attention. The Federal Reserve Act created a central bank after a 77-year gap — the last one expired in 1836 because Andrew Jackson hated it. Congress designed it to prevent bank panics like 1907's, when J.P. Morgan personally bailed out Wall Street from his library. The Fed got power to print money and set interest rates, authority no president can touch. Wilson later wrote he'd "unwittingly ruined his country," though that's debated. Either way, the dollar would never belong to the Treasury alone again.
December 23, 1913
113 years ago
Key Figures & Places
President of the United States
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Woodrow Wilson
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Federal Reserve
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Federal Reserve Act
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Federal Reserve System
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Federal Reserve Act
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President
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Woodrow Wilson
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Federal Reserve
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Gerald Ford
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Metric Conversion Act
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Sistema métrico decimal
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United States
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United States Congress
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