What was the date of Black Tuesday, the sharpest 1929 Wall Street sell-off by trading volume?

Black Tuesday, the sharpest 1929 Wall Street sell-off by trading volume, occurred on October 29, 1929. Approximately 16 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange that day.

The crash followed a period of heavy speculation during the 1920s. Many investors bought shares with borrowed money, and rising prices encouraged expectations that the market could continue climbing indefinitely. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had reached its pre-crash peak on September 3, 1929.

Black Tuesday was part of a broader sequence of panicked selling. Black Thursday came on October 24, while Black Monday and Black Tuesday followed on October 28 and 29. The market then continued weakening into November before a temporary recovery.

The crash is closely associated with the start of the Great Depression, although historians identify many additional causes, including falling industrial production, debt, banking weakness, and international economic problems. The crash itself did not instantly create every feature of the depression.