Black Tuesday, the day of the 1929 Wall Street Crash's heaviest selling, was 29 October 1929.
On that day, investors traded about 16.4 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange, a record at the time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11.7%, adding to steep losses on Black Thursday and Black Monday. The volume and speed of selling made the date a lasting symbol of financial panic.
Black Tuesday was not the first day of the crash. Black Thursday came on 24 October, while Black Monday occurred on 28 October. Together, these sessions marked the collapse of confidence after years of rising stock prices and extensive buying on margin.
The crash’s economic consequences continued well beyond October. Banks, businesses, and households were affected as asset values fell and credit tightened. The Great Depression followed as a prolonged worldwide economic crisis, but historians do not treat the stock-market crash alone as its sole cause. Monetary policy, banking failures, debt, and international economic problems also mattered.