The 1907 U.S. financial panic that prompted J.P. Morgan's emergency intervention was the Panic of 1907.
The crisis began after a failed attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company, which damaged confidence in associated banks and trust companies. Withdrawals spread, and the Knickerbocker Trust Company in New York suspended operations in October 1907.
J.P. Morgan assembled bankers, examined institutions, and arranged loans and commitments to prevent a wider collapse. His intervention was possible because the United States had no central bank at the time capable of acting as a lender of last resort.
The panic helped build political support for monetary reform. The Federal Reserve System was created in 1913, five years after the crisis. The Panic of 1907 is therefore an important predecessor to the modern U.S. central-banking system.