The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, Crash of '29, or Black Tuesday,[1] was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It began in September, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) collapsed, and ended in mid-November. The pivotal role of the 1920s' high-flying bull market and the subsequent catastrophic collapse of the NYSE in late 1929 is often highlighted in explanations of the causes of the worldwide Great Depression.
It was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States when taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its aftereffects.[2] The Great Crash is mostly associated with October 24, 1929, called Black Thursday, the day of the largest sell-off of shares in U.S. history,[3][4] and October 29, 1929, called Black Tuesday, when investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day.[5] The crash, which followed the London Stock Exchange's crash of September, signaled the beginning of the Great Depression.
The most savage bear market of all time was the Wall Street Crash of 1929–1932, in which share prices fell by 89 percent.