The Asian financial crisis emerged when traders in foreign currencies became convinced that several Asian currencies were overvalued.

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union—a “league of friendship” among the former colonies—were adopted by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and went into effect on March 1, 1781, following state ratification.

Since its establishment by Congress in 1802, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has played an important role in the growth and sustainability of American business.

The American arms industry began with government facilities that produced weapons solely for the U.S. military.

In the fall of 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sought to increase the price of oil, because the dollar was losing value.

Apple (originally Apple Computer) was founded by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, who had close ties to the 1960’s counterculture, and the corporate culture of Apple reflected that mind-set.

The federal government’s Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 initiated federal antitrust policy and remained a legislative centerpiece for the following century.

Antiques and art are sometimes grouped into the same market not only because they are often sold together but also because these objects depend on subjective appeal and social acceptance to determine their value in the marketplace.

The representatives at the Annapolis Convention decided that the Articles of Confederation needed to be replaced and that a constitutional convention should be held to reinvent the federal government.

The federal government’s creation of Amtrak allowed private railroad companies to abandon their passenger services, which had become highly unprofitable.

Originally known as the New York Curb Market, the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) first met outdoors on Broad Street, near Exchange Place, in New York City.

ASCAP was the first American performance rights organization, tracking the performance of its members’ compositions and collecting licensing fees on their behalf.

The American Bimetallic League sought to pressure the federal government to mint silver dollar coins to be reintroduced into general circulation as legal tender.

The United States purchased Alaska to boost American fishing and whaling industries, increase the nation’s control of commerce in the Pacific, and create a bridge to Asian markets.

The pipeline across Alaska was one of the most ambitious and debated construction efforts mounted by private industry in American history.

Airship history began as early as 1785, when the French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard flew across the England Channel from France to England in a hot-air balloon.

The beginning of America’s aircraft industry can be traced back to the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, whose successful first flight of a piloted airplane in 1903 was followed by their application for a patent.

The Wright brothers flew the first powered airplane in 1903, and World War I demonstrated the airplane’s military potential.

The Department of Agriculture was created to boost national agricultural production, but it later acquired responsibility for ensuring the safety of the nation’s food supply as well.

Farming advances and efficiencies have made the United States one of the world’s largest exporters of agricultural products.

First coined in 1955, the term “agribusiness” denoted an increasing consolidation of American agricultural resources that was driven by considerations of efficiency.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent federal agency, although the secretary of state broadly oversees its work.

Federation encompassing more than fifty national and international labor unions.

Publicly mandated and private programs designed to increase employment and education opportunities for traditionally underserved or underrepresented groups, usually racial minorities and women.