Which US stock-market crash began after the Dow Jones peaked at 381.17 on September 3, 1929?

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 began after the Dow Jones peaked at 381.17 on September 3, 1929.

The late-1920s market boom was fueled by strong optimism, installment buying, and widespread margin trading. Investors could control large stock positions with borrowed money, making gains look larger but leaving them vulnerable to forced selling when prices declined.

After the September peak, the market became unstable. Black Thursday on October 24 brought heavy selling, while Black Monday and Black Tuesday produced further collapses. The Dow eventually fell to 41.22 in July 1932, an almost 89% decline from its 1929 closing peak.

The crash is often presented as the sole cause of the Great Depression, but historians identify several interacting causes. Bank failures, monetary contraction, international debt problems, tariff policy, and collapsing demand deepened the downturn. The 1929 peak and 1932 trough are important benchmarks, but they describe a prolonged collapse rather than one single day.