The first day of the 1929 Wall Street Crash was Black Thursday, October 24, 1929.
On that Thursday, investors sold millions of shares on the New York Stock Exchange amid fears that stock prices had risen far beyond reasonable values. The selling overwhelmed the market, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply. A group of major bankers purchased shares to restore confidence, temporarily limiting the decline.
The crisis did not end that day. Selling returned the following week, especially on October 28 and October 29. October 29 became known as Black Tuesday and is often remembered as the symbolic climax of the crash. The wider economic effects continued for years and contributed to the Great Depression.
Black Thursday is sometimes confused with Black Tuesday because both dates were associated with dramatic market declines. Black Monday, by contrast, commonly refers to the 1987 crash, not the opening day of the 1929 collapse.