The global stock-market crash known as the Panic of 1873 began in 1873 after the Vienna Stock Exchange collapse.
On May 9, 1873, the Vienna stock market crashed in an event often called Black Friday. Speculative investment had expanded during a period of rapid railway construction and economic growth, particularly in Central Europe and the United States. When confidence broke, financial failures spread.
The crisis reached the United States later in 1873, where the failure of the banking firm Jay Cooke & Company helped trigger a severe contraction. The resulting Long Depression brought falling prices, business failures, unemployment, and prolonged weakness across several economies.
The Panic of 1873 is not the same event as the U.S. Panic of 1893, although both involved banking failures and railway speculation. The year 1873 identifies the beginning of the crisis, while the economic downturn continued for many years and its exact end varies by country and historical definition.