The financial panic that began in the United States in September 1873 is called the Panic of 1873.
The crisis followed the failure of the investment banking firm Jay Cooke & Company on September 18, 1873. The firm had heavily promoted Northern Pacific Railway bonds, and doubts about railway finance spread quickly through banks and investors. The New York Stock Exchange closed for ten days, an unusually dramatic response.
The panic developed into a prolonged international economic downturn often called the Long Depression. Falling investment, business failures, and unemployment affected the United States and Europe. Railway construction and other industries were particularly exposed to the era’s speculative financing.
The event is sometimes confused with the Panic of 1893, another major American financial crisis. In Europe, related disruptions were linked to the Vienna Stock Exchange crash of May 1873, so the wider episode had several national starting points and names.