The U.S. stock-market crash that began on September 24, 1869, after a gold-market corner failed was Black Friday.
Financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to control the gold market by buying heavily and seeking influence over government gold sales. Their plan pushed the gold premium sharply upward. President Ulysses S. Grant eventually ordered the Treasury to release gold, and the resulting increase in supply caused prices to collapse on September 24.
The panic spread through financial markets. Speculators and brokers suffered heavy losses, although the broader economy did not enter a depression comparable to the crisis of the 1930s. The episode damaged public confidence and became associated with corruption and insider influence during the Gilded Age.
Black Friday is sometimes confused with the later shopping holiday or with stock-market crashes called Black Monday. In this historical context, it refers specifically to the 1869 U.S. gold panic and its effects on Wall Street.