The first major U.S. market crash day in October 1929 was called Black Thursday.
Black Thursday took place on October 24, 1929, when heavy selling struck the New York Stock Exchange. Panic grew as investors rushed to sell shares, although a group of major bankers temporarily bought stocks to stabilize prices.
The intervention briefly calmed the market, but it did not end the broader collapse. Selling intensified again on October 28 and October 29, the latter becoming known as Black Tuesday.
Black Thursday is sometimes overlooked because Black Tuesday became the crash’s best-known label. The 1929 collapse continued for years and formed part of the wider Great Depression era.