Uptick Rule was created in 1938

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB123758871198199971.html

"The "uptick rule" was imposed in 1938, requiring that traders wait for a stock's price to tick higher before initiating a short position. Now, of course, there's a push to reimpose this rule -- it was lifted in 2007 -- in order to constrict short-sellers' ability to operate. More qualitatively, 1938 followed a year in which the U.S. suffered a crushing recession and a devastating bear market."