Sometimes we like to think that these are the worst times, and that only in the 20th and 21st centuries have we seen bailouts. However, bailouts have a long history in the United States, starting in 1792, when debt from the Revolutionary War threatened to take down the original 13.

But the biggest bailouts are, in fact from this century and the last. And four of the six biggest, reports Investopedia, are, in fact, from this past year:

1. $700 billion bank bailout. (Although everyone wants a piece of the action.)
2. The Great Depression.
3. Savings and loan bailout in 1989.
4. Bear Stearns.
5. AIG.
6. Fannie and Freddie.

I wonder if we’ll be adding the auto industry to the list.

image credit: Steve Jurvetson