Black Thursday, the day commonly associated with the start of the 1929 Wall Street Crash, was October 24, 1929.
Heavy selling overwhelmed the New York Stock Exchange that morning. Banks and major financiers attempted to stabilize prices by buying heavily traded shares, and the market temporarily steadied before further major declines followed.
The crash unfolded over several days rather than in one isolated moment. Black Monday came on October 28, and Black Tuesday followed on October 29, when trading volume and losses intensified.
The crash helped deepen the economic contraction that became the Great Depression, although historians do not treat it as the sole cause. Bank failures, falling demand, debt, and policy choices also shaped the depression’s severity.