Good Morning...Black Tuesday

[Okla-homey]

October 29, 1929: Stock market crashes

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80 years ago today, Black Tuesday hits Wall Street as investors trade 16,410,030 shares 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.

In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great Depression.

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During the 1920s, the U.S. stock market underwent rapid expansion, reaching its peak in August 1929, a period of wild speculation. 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 weak 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, in which stock prices collapsed completely.

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After October 29, 1929, stock prices had nowhere to go but up, so there was considerable recovery during succeeding weeks. Overall, however, prices continued to drop as the United States slumped into the Great Depression, and by 1932 stocks were worth only about 20 percent of their value in the summer of 1929.

The stock market crash of 1929 was not the sole cause of the Great Depression, but it did act to accelerate the global economic collapse of which it was also a symptom. By 1933, nearly half of America's banks had failed, and unemployment was approaching 15 million people, or 30 percent of the workforce.

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The government spent billions attempting to re-start the stalled economy, but it would take World War II, and the massive level of armaments production taken on by the United States, to finally bring the country out of the Depression after a decade of suffering.

[Frozen Sooner]

Just because I happen to have that number on the top of my head, 9,096 banks failed from 1930-1933.

By way of comparison, about 127 have failed in 2008-2009.

[btk108]

homey...dude....today is Thursday:D

[Okla-homey]

homey...dude....today is Thursday:D

danged leap years.

[olevetonahill]

homey...dude....today is Thursday:D


danged leap years.

Some Peeps Just Have to Be Smartasses

Its in our Blood er sompun :D

[soonerbrat]

Black Saturday for me....21 years ago today I got married.

[btk108]

vet...ever since I started hanging around here..ppl tell me I'm becoming one....;)

[tommieharris91]

The government spent billions attempting to re-start the stalled economy, but it would take World War II, and the massive level of armaments production taken on by the United States, to finally bring the country out of the Depression after a decade of suffering.

This isn't quite true. The US was nearly out of Great Depression when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. What WWII did was make the US the lone great economic superpower, because the US had found a new set of people willing to work and also that the US was only country to take part in WWII that didn't have to fight a battle on its own soil (Hawaii wasn't a state until 1949).

[Frozen Sooner]

This isn't quite true. The US was nearly out of Great Depression when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. What WWII did was make the US the lone great economic superpower, because the US had found a new set of people willing to work and also that the US was only country to take part in WWII that didn't have to fight a battle on its own soil (Hawaii wasn't a state until 1949).

*ahem*

1. Hawai'i was not a state until 1959.

2. Both Alaska and Hawai'i were American soil in 1941, and battles were fought on both.

[tommieharris91]

2. Both Alaska and Hawai'i were American soil in 1941, and battles were fought on both.

I know the Japanese were in the Aleutians, but I don't remember any actual battles... I guess I gotta learn a bit more.

[Frozen Sooner]

Well, they weren't really major battles. Mainly people wandering around in the fog shooting themselves.

[LosAngelesSooner]

Well, they weren't really major battles. Mainly people wandering around in the fog shooting themselves.

Here ya guys go:


Attu's World War II History


In early June of 1942, Japanese forces landed on the island of Attu capturing the only inhabitants: 41 native Attuans, an American schoolteacher and his wife. When American troops landed almost a year later, May 11th, 1943, they found the Japanese dug in and well positioned in the foothills and ridges that cover the Southeastern portion of the island. The American's also found that they were not completely prepared for all the trappings the weather and topography of Attu had in store for them. Trained in warm climates and outfitted with inadequate cold weather gear, many succumbed to frostbite and hypothermia. The cold Bering Sea also served as an unwelcome adversary, claiming several soldiers before they could get ashore. Low lying fog impeded the American's ability to see and navigate the many reefs that surround the island. Landing craft would run into each other or rip-up altogether on the reefs, sinking with everyone onboard. When land was finally reached, the American forces found that the tundra could not support the weight of the vehicles and artillery. It would be up to the foot soldier to take the island back.


The Japanese were buried in the hills. They wore white to blend in with the terrain, and would rise and fall with the level of the fog line. The Japanese soldiers used mortars, hand grenades, and snipers to attack the American forces as they advanced up Massacre Valley. The battleships Nevada, Idaho, and the Pennsylvania used their guns to bombard the island with shells. As the battleships hit their targets, Japanese machinery, soldiers and supplies came down the mountains along with the snow which moments earlier had fortified them. A second American force came from the north, but took longer to reach its destination then first thought. The unexpected delay caused the American troops to run out of supplies, forcing them to search the dead bodies of Japanese soldiers for rice. In all, the capture of Attu took 20 days to complete. In the final days of the battle, the Japanese killed their wounded with morphine and made one last bonsai charge through the American base camp. On their last charge, the Japanese went through the American hospital killing wounded soldiers and destroying the propane stove. Surrounded by units of engineers, the Japanese force committed suicide by holding grenades to themselves. At the end of the battle the Japanese had lost 2622 men and 28 surrendered. The Americans had lost 549 and had 1148 injured, many from the severe weather conditions on the island. The dead were buried in Little Falls cemetery at the base of Gilbert Ridge. The bodies were later exhumed in 1946.

The navy and army set up a large base on the island from 1945 to 1958, creating a little city at the edge of the world. There were hospitals, pubs, bowling halls, a church, and a movie theater. There were three working runways and several buildings. Now, all the buildings and two of the runways have begun to be taken over by the island. The only people remaining on Attu, reside at the USCG Loran Station. Twenty people in all; they serve one-year tours wandering through the skeletons of the past that lie rusting from the end of an era… at the edge of the world.