On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, creating unemployment insurance, pension plans for the elderly and “Aid to Dependent Children” (now Aid to Families with Dependent Children – AFDC). Learn more about the origins of social security and view a photo of President Roosevelt signing the legislation.

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On August 12, 1983, the former Prime Minister of Japan, Tanaka Kakuei was convicted of accepting bribes while in office and sentenced to 4 years in jail. He came to be described as “the paragon of post war corruption” for taking money from the defense contractor Boeing in exchange for favorable contracts. Also on this [...]

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On August 12, 1833, the City of Chicago was founded. The city was later formally incorporated with a town charter on March 4, 1837.Learn more about the history of Chicago’s charter from the Encyclopedia of Chicago.

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