Black Tuesday was the 1929 Wall Street crash day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 12%.
It occurred on October 29, 1929, after heavy selling had already struck the New York Stock Exchange on Black Thursday, October 24. More than 16 million shares changed hands, then an extraordinary volume for the era. Prices continued falling as investors rushed to sell stocks.
Black Tuesday is often treated as the symbolic climax of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, although the decline unfolded over several trading sessions and the market did not reach its ultimate low until 1932. The crash damaged confidence, reduced household wealth, and intensified the economic contraction that became the Great Depression.
A common mix-up is treating Black Tuesday as the entire crash. Black Tuesday names one particularly dramatic day; the broader event is the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The Dow had reached a major peak in September 1929 before beginning its prolonged collapse.