Black Tuesday was the name given to October 29, 1929, the second major sell-off day of the 1929 Wall Street Crash, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 12%.
The day followed Black Thursday, October 24, and Black Monday, October 28. Heavy selling overwhelmed the New York Stock Exchange, with millions of shares changing hands. The market decline reflected speculation, purchases made on margin, weakening economic conditions, and declining confidence in stock prices.
Black Tuesday did not by itself cause the Great Depression, but it became the crash’s most famous date and a powerful symbol of the economic crisis that followed. Stock prices continued falling after October 29, and the Dow eventually reached a low in 1932.
A common mix-up is treating Black Tuesday as the beginning of the crash. The New York market had already suffered sharp losses on Black Thursday and Black Monday; Black Tuesday marked a further, devastating stage of the collapse.