Conversation so far:
who got the very first social security number
The first Social Security number in history was assigned to John David Sweeney, Jr.
when was the first social security number assigned
On December 1, 1936, Joseph L. Fay of the Social Security Administration announced that the first Social Security number in history was assigned to John David Sweeney, Jr.
why were social security numbers issued
Social Security numbers were first issued by the Social Security Administration in November 1935 as part of the New Deal Social Security program.

Question: did a lot of people get them
Self-contained rewrite: did a lot of people get social security numbers