What was the name of the severe U.S. financial panic that began in October 1907?

The severe U.S. financial panic that began in October 1907 was the Panic of 1907.

The crisis followed a failed attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company. When depositors and investors lost confidence in institutions connected to the scheme, runs spread through trust companies and banks, especially in New York. The Knickerbocker Trust Company’s collapse became a prominent early signal.

J. P. Morgan helped organize private support for threatened institutions and persuaded other financiers to provide liquidity. The episode exposed how heavily the United States depended on private bankers because it lacked a modern central bank.

The panic helped build political support for the Aldrich–Vreeland Act of 1908 and ultimately the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. It is sometimes confused with later panics because “panic” describes the financial crisis, not a single exchange-trading day.