This Month In History

February 14, 1936 The Social Security Board approved twelve regional areas and twelve regional offices for its field office setup.

February 8, 1937 The First Annual Report of the Social Security Board submitted to Congress.

February 27, 1937 The first claims under Title II of the Social Security Act were adjudicated and forwarded to the Social Security Board on February 27. The first claims were actually paid in March.

February 13, 1940 An Appeals Council, consisting of three members, was appointed by the Social Security Board to direct and supervise the holding of hearings on claims for old-age and survivors insurance benefits and to review decisions of referees, subject to review by the courts. Joseph McElvain was appointed the director. The staff of the Appeals Council included a Consulting Referee for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance program as a whole and a Hearing Referee for each of the twelve regions.

February 20, 1947 Arthur J. Altmeyer was elected Executive Secretary of the Reparatory Commission for the International Refugee Organization.

February 2, 1953 President Eisenhower, in his State of the Union Message, recommended that the "old-age and survivors insurance law should promptly be extended to cover millions of citizens who have been left out of the Social Security system."

February 1955 By this date, old-age and survivors insurance beneficiaries numbered seven million.

February 27, 1956 SSA's new electronic computer system, an IBM 705, began operation in the Candler Building under the watchful eyes of technicians from IBM. The first computer application consisted of posting earnings records, benefit computations and reinstating incorrectly reported earnings.

February 3, 1967 With the mailing of the benefit checks, the Social Security Administration became the first large Federal agency to implement mass ZIP code mailing.

February 1972 The Bureau of Data Processing announced it would be issuing new Social Security cards and mailing them directly from central office, thereby shifting issuance from the field to the central office.

February 1982 SSA's Systems Modernization Plan is published.

February 9, 1996 First meeting of the new Social Security Advisory Board was held in Baltimore. Among their other activities, the Board members took a tour of the SSA History Room.

February 11, 1997 SSA's proposed final regulations for cycling of benefit payments were published.

February 15, 2000 SSA launched its Electronic Newsletter (e-News) through which visitors are able to subscribe to Social Security e-news, a monthly electronic newsletter providing brief items on the latest Social Security information of public interest.

February 5, 2002 James B. Lockhart, IIII, formally sworn-in to be Deputy Commissioner of Social Security.

February 5, 2002 The "Ticket to Work" program was officially launched in the first 13 States (it is expected to be in operation nationwide in 2004).

February 19, 2002 New updated rules, better reflecting the state of medical science, took effect regarding the evaluation of disabilities based on problems of the musculoskeletal system (the most common type of disability under Social Security).

February 21, 2002 Former SSA executive, Alvin M. David, died in Chicago at age 95. Mr. David was the head of the policy function at SSA for more than 20 years, prior to his retirement in 1973.

February 3, 2003 President Bush proposed an $8.53 billion administrative budget for the Social Security Administration for Fiscal Year 2004. This is a 7.5% increase over the FY 2003 budget request. It is more than double the 4% increase the President proposed for his overall 2004 budget, and is the largest increase submitted since SSA became an independent agency.

February 12, 2007 Michael J. Astrue is sworn in as the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, to serve a six-year term that will expire on January 19, 2013.

February 12, 2008 The first "baby boomer" applicant for Social Security retirement benefits, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, received her first benefit payment (via direct deposit).

February 26, 2008 SSA began making job offers to the first 144 of a planned 175 new Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) it plans to hire this fiscal year. The new ALJs are being hired to help speed up the processing of backlogged disability cases.

February 12, 2009 The Social Security Administration’s online services have earned the highest overall score in the most recent e-Government Satisfaction Index.  The Index, which is administered by ForeSee Results in conjunction with the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), also gave three of SSA’s applications the highest scores in government.  In a separate survey, Nextgov, a website devoted to technology and the federal government, listed www.socialsecurity.gov as one of the top five federal websites in its review of best online practices.

February 25, 2009 The Social Security Administration has been named the top Government Employer by readers of Equal Opportunity Magazine and also has received Top Ten Ranking in the 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey.