The Great Bank Holiday of 1933

In 1933, the United States did something almost nobody today believes is even possible.

The government shut down every single bank in the country. Overnight. It was called the

Bank Holiday. People woke up to locked doors, frozen accounts, and no access to

their own money. The reason? A nationwide panic had triggered bank runs that were draining

the system faster than it could survive. So the president stepped in and hit pause on all of

America’s finance. For four days, businesses stalled, withdrawals stopped, and millions waited,

not knowing if their savings would even exist when banks reopened. When the doors finally

unlocked, new rules were in place, and confidence slowly returned.