The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also called the Great Crash or the Crash of '29, is the

stock-market crash that occurred in late October, 1929. It started on October 24 ("Black
Thursday") and continued through October 29, 1929 ("Black Tuesday"), when share prices
on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) collapsed.
During the 1920s America experienced an era of great peace and prosperity. After World
War I, the so-called Roaring Twenties economic and cultural boom was fueled by
industrialization and the popularization of new technologies such as radio and the
automobile. Air flight was becoming common as well.
The Dow stock average rised throughout the Roaring Twenties and many investors
aggressively purchased shares, comforted by the fact that stocks were thought to be
extremely safe by most economists due to the countrys powerful economic boom.
From 1921 to 1929, the Dow Jones rocketed from 60 to 400, creating many new
millionaires. Very soon, stock trading became Americas favorite pastime and investors
mortgaged their homes and foolishly invested their life savings into hot stocks such as Ford
and RCA. To the average investor, stocks were practically a sure thing. Few people
actually studied the finances and underlying businesses of the companies that they
invested in. Thousands of fraudulent companies were formed to deceive unsavvy
investors. Most investors never even thought a crash was possible in their minds, the
stock market always went up.
By then, production had already declined and unemployment had risen, leaving stocks in
great excess of their real value. Among the other causes of the eventual market collapse
were low wages, the proliferation of debt, a struggling agricultural sector and an excess of
large bank loans that could not be liquidated.
Stock prices began to decline in September and early October 1929, and on October 18
the fall began. Panic set in, and on October 24, Black Thursday, a record 12,894,650
shares were traded. Investment companies and leading bankers attempted to stabilize the
market by buying up great blocks of stock, producing a moderate rally on Friday. On
Monday, however, the storm broke anew, and the market went into free fall. Black Monday
was followed by Black Tuesday (October 29), in which stock prices collapsed completely
and 16,410,030 shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day.
Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors, and stock tickers ran hours
behind because the machinery could not handle the tremendous volume of trading.

The stock market crash of 1929 led to a major economic crisis known as the Great
Depression. The Depression lasted from approximately October 1929 until the late-1930s.
Mass poverty became common and many workers lost their jobs and were forced to live in
shanty towns. Former millionaire businessmen were reduced to selling apples and pencils
on street corners. One-third of Americans were living below the poverty line during the
Great Depression. The Dow Jones finally surpassed its 1929 high, a full 26 years later in
1955.
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