What was the nickname of the U.S. stock-market crash on September 24, 1869?

The U.S. stock-market crash on September 24, 1869, was nicknamed Black Friday.

The episode centered on an attempt by financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk to corner the U.S. gold market. They sought to drive gold prices higher while limiting the amount available for sale, hoping to profit from the resulting price movement. Their plan depended partly on President Ulysses S. Grant not releasing government gold.

Grant eventually ordered Treasury gold sales, causing the price of gold to fall sharply. The reversal destabilized markets and ruined many speculators, although the broader economy did not experience the same prolonged contraction associated with later depressions.

Black Friday is not the same event as the retail-shopping day now commonly associated with that phrase. It is also separate from Black Thursday in 1929 and Black Monday in 1987. The 1869 crisis illustrates how concentrated speculation in one market can spill into wider financial trading.