The 1873 crisis that began with a Vienna Stock Exchange crash and spread internationally was the Panic of 1873.
Speculative investment in railways, property, and construction had expanded rapidly in Europe and North America. In May 1873, the Vienna Stock Exchange crashed, helping trigger a wider loss of confidence. The failure of the major American investment firm Jay Cooke & Company in September then intensified pressure in the United States.
The New York Stock Exchange closed temporarily for the first time in its history, from September 20 to September 29, 1873. Banking failures and falling investment contributed to a long period of weak growth often called the Long Depression, although historians debate its exact boundaries and severity.
The Panic of 1873 is distinct from the U.S. Panic of 1893, which also involved railroad finance and banking failures. Its international reach reflects the increasingly connected capital markets of the nineteenth century.