The U.S. Federal Trade Commission was created in 1914. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Trade Commission Act on September 26, establishing the agency as part of the Progressive Era effort to restrain anticompetitive business practices.
The FTC was designed to supplement earlier antitrust laws, especially the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914. Its original focus included preventing unfair methods of competition and investigating corporate conduct that could harm competitive markets.
The commission opened its doors on March 16, 1915. It later became equally well known for consumer-protection work, including challenging deceptive advertising, unfair business practices, and certain privacy or fraud violations.
A frequent mix-up is confusing the creation date with the opening date: the agency was legally created in 1914 but began operations in 1915. The year 1913 was when Wilson advocated for a trade commission, not the year the FTC itself was established.