On October 24th, 1929, what became known as "Black Thursday", the American financial system suffered a catastrophic blow that signaled the beginning of the Great Depression. While "Black Tuesday" (October 29th, 1929) is often remembered for the final collapse, Black Thursday is the day that the panic truly ignited, with a record-setting 12.9 million shares traded in a single day, which was triple the usual volume. The morning of Black Thursday began with a terrifying 11% drop at the opening bell, with the situation being so chaotic that the stock ticker fell nearly two hours behind. By the time the dust settled on that first day, an estimated $11 billion in paper wealth had been lost in just three hours. Over the following week, the market continued to crash, and by mid-November, the Dow had lost nearly half of its value. It would eventually bottom out in 1932 at 41.22 points, which was an 89% drop from its peak. The crash began what became known as "The Great Depression", which failed banks, destroyed businesses, and launched the U.S. unemployment rate to a staggering 25% in 1933.
