Crash, Bang, Wall Street

October 24th, 1929, New York, New York State, United States of America –A day like any other in North America’s most populous city. But today there would be a more sinister bite to the cold autumnal breeze. The Roaring Twenties were about to come to an end with an almighty crash.

The opening bell sounds on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. By close of trading, the market has lost nine per cent of its value in a frenzied flurry of action three times busier than any other day that year. This was the most devastating day in US financial history and would become known as "Black Thursday", the beginning of the Great Depression that would ravage the industrialised nations of the world for a decade and claim up to seven million lives through poverty and hunger.

The price of oil in 1929 was $1.27 per barrel, it would not reach those heights again until 1947.

October 24th, 2008, New York, New York State, United States of America –A day like any other in North America’s most populous city. But today there would be a more sinister bite to the cold autumnal breeze. The Noughties Boom was about to come to and end with an almighty crash.

Opening bells sound across the world’s stock markets. By close of trading, the world’s major exchanges have experienced the worst routs in their history, with losses of around 10 per cent in most indices. This day would become known as "Bloody Friday, a "once in a lifetime crisis, and possibly the largest financial crisis of its kind in human history", beginning the Great Recession, the worst global recession since World War II, and one we are still feeling the effects of today.

The price of oil in 2008 was $97.26, it would not reach those heights again until 2011.

The moral of the story? Don’t be messing around with money in New York on the 24th of October, it doesn’t end well!