Black Tuesday was the 1929 trading day that saw heavy panic selling and helped give the Wall Street crash its famous name.
Black Tuesday occurred on October 29, 1929, when about 16 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 12%, following major declines on Black Thursday and Black Monday.
The crash did not by itself create every feature of the Great Depression, but it became its most recognizable financial symbol. The United States then entered a prolonged economic contraction marked by bank failures, unemployment, deflation, and falling industrial output.
A common mix-up is treating Black Tuesday as the entire crash. The market decline began before October 29 and continued afterward. The names Black Thursday, Black Monday, and Black Tuesday refer to separate sessions during the same dramatic period.