The longest recession in American history took place between 1929 and 1939. Known as the Great Depression, this economic crisis was noteworthy in terms of both its length and its severity.

Before the Christmas break, we ran a short series on how the Great Depression unfolded ... to avoid much of the worst of the Depression. This happened via three main mechanisms.

One of the most popular New Deal programs, the Civilian Conservation Corps put three million young men to work in the nation's forests and parks at the height of the Great Depression.