MCAAD Museum

Ref: Milken Center of Advanced American Dreams (2026). Washington DC.

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Chronology

  • Jun, 2008: Zimbabwe’s inflation reaches 11.2M %, resulting in bank notes with shocking numerical values. That month, a single loaf of bread cost ~1.6T Zimbabwean dollars, whereas just a few months earlier, the same item had cost < Z$200,000 (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1968: The USG passes the Fair Housing Act which outlaws racially motivated denial of mortgage lending based on neighborhood- a practice called redlining (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1958: Following the USSR’s 1957 launch of Sputnik, the USG passes the National Defense Education Act to fund colleges and universities and close the gap with the USSR, especially in STEM. The new law also creates a federal student loan program, doubling college enrollment within 10 yrs (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1944: Bretton Woods; with the end of WWII in sight, representatives from 44 countries gather at a resort in Bretton Woods, NH. Their goal: establish an international system for exchanging currency to bring stability and promote international growth. The US dollar is set as the world’s reserve currency, and all other countries’ currencies are linked to its value. This made the dollar- and the USA- the center of international exchange (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1933: FDIC; the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression left many Americans seeking stability in the financial system. POTUS FDR creates the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to help restore public trust in financial institutions (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1933: POTUS FDR takes the US dollar off the “gold standard,” where all money is backed by gold held in the Treasury. The US shifts to “fiat money”, where the currency is only backed by faith and trust in the government. This allows more flexibility to manage the nation’s finances, while also placing greater responsibility on policymakers to serve as effective stewards of the economy (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1913: The 16th Amendment and the Revenue Act of 1913 establish USC’ permanent right to impose an income tax. Income tax, paid by individuals and corporations, becomes a primary source of revenue for the federal government, and comprises ~60% of government revenue today (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1913: Federal (‘Fed’) Reserve; following a series of banking panics, the USC passes the Federal Reserve Act, which establishes a central banking system. Its goal is to control the amount of currency in circulation and encourage economic growth through regulating banks and influencing interest rates (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1867: US SECSTATE William Seward secures approval from the US Senate to purchase Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2M in gold (MCAAD Museum).

  • 22-23 Feb, 1847: The Battle of Buena Vista; American forces led by General Zachary Taylor defeat a much larger Mexican army of >15,000 led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna near Saltillo, Mexico. Using superior artillery and a strong defensive position in the Angostura Pass, the US force a Mexican retreat, securing northern Mexico and elevating Taylor to national fame (Wiki, MCAAD Museum).

  • 1844: Samuel Morse sends the first public telegraph message, “What hath God wrought?” via an experimental line funded by the USC that ran between the US Capitol and Baltimore (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1792: New York Stock Exchange; 24 stockbrokers and merchants meet during a financial panic to set ground rules for trading. They sign the Buttonwood Agreement (named for the tree where they frequently met). The agreement is the origin of what would become the NY Stock Exchange (MCAAD Museum).

  • 1791: Alexander Hamilton, serving as the US’ first Secretary of the Treasure, founds the First Bank of the US. The bank stabilizes the dollar, pays off war bonds, and encourages growth by taking deposits (MCAAD Museum).

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