The Unforgettable Catastrophe: History's Worst Stock Market Crash|||||||

The 1929 stock market crash stands as the most devastating financial collapse in history, its impact echoing through generations and reshaping global economics. Beginning with the infamous "Black Thursday" on October 24th, the panic selling culminated on "Black Tuesday," October 29th, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 12%, wiping out billions in paper wealth almost instantly. This wasn't a mere correction; it was the bursting of a massive speculative bubble fueled by excessive margin buying and unchecked optimism. The crash directly triggered the decade-long Great Depression, leading to catastrophic bank failures, unprecedented unemployment rates exceeding 25%, and a profound loss of public confidence in the financial system. Its legacy forged a new era of financial regulation, including the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to prevent such a unparalleled economic disaster from ever occurring again. The event remains the ultimate cautionary tale of speculative excess and systemic vulnerability.