Great Depression begins in New York City.

Five days of panic selling on Wall Street begin on what comes to be called “Black Tuesday.” It culminates on “Black Thursday,” when thousands of investors are wiped out and stockholders lose nearly $40 billion as the New York stock market crashes. Between 1929 and 1932, one in five American banks fail and by 1932 the unemployment rate is 23% and nearly 12 million Americans are out of work. The recession lasts from August 1929 until March 1933.