What date is widely identified as the start of the 1929 Wall Street Crash, when the Dow Jones suffered a major sell-off?

Black Thursday, October 24, 1929, is widely identified as the start of the Wall Street Crash. On that day, heavy selling drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average sharply lower, although a late recovery reduced the closing loss.

The panic intensified over the following trading days. Black Monday came on October 28, followed by Black Tuesday on October 29, when the Dow fell about 12%. These dramatic sessions helped give the crash its enduring names, but the market decline continued well beyond that week.

The crash followed years of rapid speculation, rising share prices, buying on margin, and economic imbalances. It did not by itself cause the entire Great Depression, but it damaged confidence and contributed to the wider economic downturn. Black Thursday is sometimes confused with Black Tuesday because Tuesday produced the more famous single-day collapse.