The New York Stock Exchange trading day of October 24, 1929, is known as Black Thursday.
Black Thursday marked the first major panic session of the Wall Street Crash. Trading volume surged as investors rushed to sell shares, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply. A group of prominent bankers later attempted to restore confidence by buying leading stocks, but the intervention did not end the broader collapse.
The crash unfolded over several days rather than in one isolated session. October 28 became known as Black Monday, and October 29 became Black Tuesday, when selling intensified and the Dow suffered another severe fall. These labels are sometimes mixed up because all three dates belong to the same historic episode.
The crash followed years of speculative buying and margin borrowing. Its consequences extended beyond Wall Street, contributing to the severe economic contraction that became the Great Depression, although the crash alone did not cause every aspect of that worldwide crisis.