January 1913 – December 1914 · 1 year 11 months Business activity: −25.9% Productions and real income declined during this period and were not offset until the start of World War I increased demand. Incidentally, the Federal Reserve Act was signed during this recession, creating the Federal Reserve System, the culmination of a sequence of events following the Panic of 1907. The financial crisis of 1914 occurred following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, the subsequent July Crisis, and British declaration of war on Germany, which led to U.S. Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo to close the New York Stock Exchange beginning on July 31. Dates: the National Bureau of Economic Research's business cycle chronology. Wiki link