April 12, 1945 – DEATH OF PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

1945 – DEATH OF PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
"The real truth is…that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson."

April 12, 1910 – DEATH OF WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER, PROFESSOR, YALE UNIVERSITY, MONETARY THEORIST

1910 – DEATH OF WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER, PROFESSOR, YALE UNIVERSITY, MONETARY THEORIST
"For as the currency question is of first importance and we cannot solve it or escape it by ignoring it.  We have got to face it and the best way to begin is not by wrangling about speculative opinions as to untried schemes but to go back to history and try to get hold of some firmly established principles."

APRIL 12, 1866 – CONGRESS PASSES THE CONTRACTION ACT

1866 – CONGRESS PASSES THE CONTRACTION ACT
The Act authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to begin retiring Greenbacks (public debt-free money first issued by the Lincoln Administration) in circulation and to contract the money supply. By 1876, two-thirds of the nation's money had been called in by the bankers. A contraction of the money supply when demand is high causes depressions, which is what happened from 1873-79.