85 years ago today, in the midst of the Great Depression, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt created the Tennessee Valley Authority to establish navigation, flood control, electricity generation and economic development in the Tennessee River Valley—one of the poorest regions in the country. The TVA, which covered parts of seven states, and produced such cheap power that it attracted many factories to the area, became a model for America’s efforts to help modernize agrarian societies in the developing world. (1933)
MORE Good News From This Day:
- Rhode Island passed the first law in North America making slavery illegal (1652)
- The Hague Peace Conference opened with delegates from 26 countries taking part in the first international arms control summit (1899)
- Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier (1953)
- A modified TGV passenger train in France achieved a new rail world speed record of 320 mph (1990)
- A landmark…
