The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Crash of ’29 or the Great Crash, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full scope and longevity of its fallout. Three phrases—Black Thursday, Black Monday, and Black Tuesday—are used to describe this collapse of stock values. All three are appropriate, for the crash was not a one-day affair. The initial crash occurred on Black Thursday , but it was the catastrophic downturn of Black Monday and Tuesday (October 28 and 29, 1929) that precipitated widespread panic and the onset of unprecedented and long-lasting consequences for the United States. The collapse continued for a month.
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Anyone who bought stocks in mid-1929 and held onto them saw most of his or her adult life pass by before getting back to even.
—Richard M. Salsman[6]
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On October 24, 1929 the stock market experienced a sharp decline becoming a catalyst for the Great Depression.
During the mid- to late 1920s, the stock market in the United States underwent rapid expansion.
Billions of dollars were drawn from the banks into Wall Street for brokers’ loans to carry margin accounts.
People bought stocks “on margin”, which essentially means that people invested borrowed money in the stock market.
In the midsummer of 1929 some 300 million shares of stock were being carried on margin, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a peak of 381 points in September.
The first day of real panic, October 24, is known as Black Thursday; on that day a record 12.9 million shares were traded as investors rushed to salvage their losses.
Black Thursday
Still, the Dow average closed down only six points after a number of major banks and investment companies bought up great blocks of stock in a successful effort to stem the panic that day. Their attempts, however, ultimately failed to shore up the market.
Black Thursday was just the start of the stock market crash. The following week the market experienced an even sharper decline.
The stock market crash was just the start of the economic hardships that the United States experienced leading into the Great Depression.
Black Thursday (October 24, 1929)
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Crash of ’29 or the Great Crash, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full scope and longevity of its fallout. Three phrases—Black Thursday, Black Monday, and Black Tuesday—are used to describe this collapse of stock values. All three are appropriate, for the crash was not a one-day affair. The initial crash occurred on Black Thursday , but it was the catastrophic downturn of Black Monday and Tuesday (October 28 and 29, 1929) that precipitated widespread panic and the onset of unprecedented and long-lasting consequences for the United States. The collapse continued for a month.
—Richard M. Salsman[6]