Wall Street Crash - Black Thursday
The New York Stock Exchange crashed on Black Thursday, triggering the Great Depression
October 24, 1929
The Day the Market Collapsed
On October 29, 1929, the United States stock market suffered its worst single-day crash in history. Known as Black Tuesday, the collapse wiped out billions of dollars in wealth almost overnight. Investors had been buying stocks on credit — a practice called buying on margin — which meant that when prices fell, they lost far more than they had actually invested. Panic spread through trading floors as people rushed to sell, driving prices down even further. Banks that had lent money to investors began to fail, and ordinary Americans lost their savings.
A Decade of Hardship
The crash triggered the Great Depression, a global economic downturn that lasted through most of the 1930s. Unemployment in the United States reached 25 percent at its peak. Factories shut down, farms failed, and millions of families were left homeless. Breadlines and soup kitchens became common sights in American cities. The depression spread worldwide, weakening economies in Europe, Latin America, and beyond. Countries responded with trade barriers and policy changes that often made things worse before they got better.
Lessons That Shaped Modern Finance
The Great Depression changed how governments manage economies. President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the New Deal, a series of programs designed to provide relief, recovery, and reform. New financial regulations were put in place, including deposit insurance to protect bank customers. The Securities and Exchange Commission was created to oversee stock markets. These changes shaped modern banking and finance for decades. Use the date calculator to explore how long the depression lasted from crash to recovery.