Today, the national debt stands at more than $21 trillion.
On October 22, 1981, the national debt in the United States crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time in history.
It took nearly two centuries to reach that unfortunate milestone.
And over that time the country had been through a revolution, civil war, two world wars, the Great Depression, the nuclear arms race… plus dozens of other wars, financial panics, and economic crises…
Source: sovereignman.com