The first major trading day of the 1929 Wall Street Crash was Black Thursday, October 24, 1929.
On Black Thursday, heavy selling drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average down sharply during the session. A late intervention by leading bankers temporarily steadied prices, but confidence remained fragile. The market then suffered further dramatic declines on the following Monday and Tuesday.
Black Thursday is sometimes overlooked because Black Tuesday, October 29, is commonly treated as the crash’s most famous day. Black Monday, October 28, also brought a major fall. Together, these sessions marked the breakdown of the speculative boom that had lifted U.S. share prices during the 1920s.
The crash did not by itself cause every feature of the Great Depression. The depression also involved banking failures, falling demand, monetary policy, international debt problems, and trade restrictions. Nevertheless, the 1929 market collapse destroyed wealth and damaged confidence in businesses, banks, and financial institutions.