The 1907 U.S. financial panic that caused bank runs and helped inspire the Federal Reserve was the Panic of 1907.
The crisis intensified in October after an unsuccessful attempt to corner the shares of United Copper Company. Depositors withdrew funds from institutions connected to the speculators, and fear spread to trust companies and banks. The Knickerbocker Trust Company, then one of New York’s largest trust companies, suspended operations after a run.
Financier J. P. Morgan organized private support to stabilize the banking system, while the U.S. Treasury also supplied funds. The episode exposed the weakness of a financial system without a formal central bank capable of acting as lender of last resort. The Aldrich–Vreeland Act of 1908 created emergency currency provisions, and the Federal Reserve System was established in 1913. The panic is distinct from the Panic of 1893 and the later 1929 crash.