What was the name of the 1929 U.S. stock-market crash that began the Great Depression?

The 1929 U.S. stock-market crash was called the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

After years of rising share prices, heavy speculation, and widespread buying on margin, confidence weakened in October 1929. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell sharply on Black Thursday, October 24, and selling intensified on Black Monday, October 28, and Black Tuesday, October 29. Black Tuesday is often treated as the most famous day of the crash.

The crash did not single-handedly cause the Great Depression. It damaged wealth and confidence, but bank failures, debt problems, falling production, reduced international trade, and policy mistakes also deepened the economic crisis. The Dow continued falling after October 1929 and did not reach its pre-crash peak again until 1954.

A common mix-up is treating “Black Tuesday” as the name of the entire event. It was one crucial day within the broader Wall Street Crash of 1929. The crash was centered in the United States, although its economic effects spread internationally.