Black Tuesday was the 1929 Wall Street crash day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 13%.
It occurred on October 29, 1929, after heavy selling had already shaken the New York Stock Exchange on Black Thursday, October 24, and Black Monday, October 28. More than 16 million shares changed hands, setting a trading-volume record that lasted for decades.
The crash did not single-handedly cause the Great Depression, but it destroyed wealth and damaged public confidence. Bank failures, falling prices, reduced consumer spending, industrial contraction, and policy failures deepened the economic crisis that followed.
A common mix-up is treating Black Tuesday as the entire crash. The Wall Street collapse unfolded over several trading days in October 1929, while the broader bear market continued into 1932. The Dow eventually lost almost 89% from its 1929 peak to its 1932 low.