The 24 October 1929 session when heavy selling first hit the New York Stock Exchange was nicknamed Black Thursday.
On that Thursday, a huge wave of sell orders caused share prices to fall sharply. Trading volume reached a then-record level, and the turmoil attracted national attention. A group of leading bankers later attempted to restore confidence by buying selected shares, temporarily stabilizing the market.
The apparent recovery did not last. Selling returned on the following Monday and Tuesday, producing the labels Black Monday and Black Tuesday. These dates are often grouped together as the Wall Street Crash of 1929, even though the market's deterioration began before the October panic and continued for years afterward.
The crash was connected to speculation, margin debt, and weaknesses in the wider economy. It helped destroy confidence and reduce wealth, but historians generally describe the Great Depression as having multiple causes rather than a single event or date.