The Panic of 1873 is the 1873 financial crisis also known in the United States as the beginning of the Long Depression.
The panic followed a speculative boom in railroads and real estate, especially in Europe and North America. In the United States, the failure of Jay Cooke & Company in September 1873 helped trigger a run on banks and forced the New York Stock Exchange to close temporarily.
The crisis spread internationally. It followed financial stress in Europe, including the collapse of the Vienna stock-market boom earlier that year. Railroads had absorbed large amounts of capital, and falling expectations about their profitability exposed banks and investors to heavy losses.
The depression that followed lasted for years, although historians debate its exact boundaries and whether “Long Depression” is the best label. In Britain, the period is often dated from 1873 to the mid-1890s. The episode encouraged banking reforms and contributed to major labor and political tensions.