Investors often measure the health of the economy with a stock index known as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or Dow.

It tracks the top companies across important industries!

From August 1921 to September 1929, the stock market was hot -- the Dow increased by nearly 6X! 🔥

But a month later, the market crashed in just two days (Monday to Tuesday)

Known as the first Black Monday, the Dow plummeted by nearly 13% and 12% more a day later 📉

The Dow had lost nearly 50% of its value by mid-November, marking the entrance of a bear market 🐻

Many believe that too many investors buying stocks on margin, or only paying for 10% of the value, led to the crash

This led to extreme debt for both investors and consumers 🏦

This crash marked the start of the Great Depression, when millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes 😔

The market did not fully recover until 1954 and was otherwise 89% below its peak throughout the depression