1994: Just over a year after breaking the 700 barrier, the NASDAQ Composite Index closes above 800 for the first time, finishing the day at 800.47.

1990: Communism finally takes a real bite out of capitalism, as McDonald's opens its first restaurant in Russia. Although it has to import cheese from Poland, chickens from France, and potatoes from Holland, the outlet on Moscow's Pushkin Square is a huge success. The locals are stunned by its cleanliness and flabbergasted to learn that the friendly, cheerful employees are actually Russians. Even now, it remains the world's busiest McDonald's branch, serving more than 15,000 consumers per day.

Jack, "McDonald's relishes its 10 years in Russia," Financial Times, February 1, 2000, p. 4.

1940: The first monthly Social Security check is issued to Ida May Fuller, a 65-year-old retired legal secretary in Ludlow, Vt. Because Social Security was launched only three years before she retired, Miss Fuller had paid a cumulative total of only $24.75 in Social Security taxes. But her initial monthly check is $22.54 — and, by the time she dies in 1975 at the age of 100, Miss Fuller has collected a lifetime total of $22,888.92 in Social Security benefits (nearly 1,000 times what she paid in). Thus, Social Security's very first payment demonstrates both its promise and its problems.