Today's frightening financial markets and economy are a new experience to those born after WWII. However, scary times and financial panics are not new in the larger context of US history. The following periods were all strife with bank collapses, widespread fear and deep recession:

• The panic of 1792
• The panic of 1819
• The panic of 1825
• The panic of 1837
• The panic of 1847
• The panic of 1857
• The panic of 1866 and Civil War Years
• The panic of 1873
• The panic of 1884
• The panic of 1890
• The panic of 1893
• The panic of 1907
• The Great Depression