The 1907 U.S. financial panic sparked by the Knickerbocker Trust Company’s failure was the Panic of 1907.
The crisis began in October 1907 after an unsuccessful attempt to corner the stock of United Copper Company. When the speculation collapsed, depositors rushed to withdraw money from trust companies, financial institutions that were less tightly regulated than banks. The failure of the Knickerbocker Trust Company in New York intensified the run.
J. Pierpont Morgan organized private banking support, helping stabilize the banking system and the New York Stock Exchange. The panic exposed the weakness of relying on a private individual to act as a lender of last resort.
A common mix-up is calling this event the Panic of 1908; the main crisis occurred in October and November 1907. Its aftermath helped motivate creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913.