Banking Act of 1939 is adopted in Washington, D.C.

Known as the Glass-Steagall Act and enacted in the wake of the Great Depression, it prohibits commercial banks from engaging in higher-risk investments. The law is weakened over the years and finally repealed in 1999. Many credit it with stabilizing the U.S. economy while it was in force and say it would have prevented the Great Recession of 2008 if still in effect.