July 20th – This Day in Stock Market History

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Quote of the Day

I think the history of science has shown that valuable consequences often proliferate from simple curiosity.
Claude Shannon, from A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invested the Information Age

July 20th – This Day in Stock Market History

July 20th, 1933 – Stocks fall sharply for the second day in a row. On this day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 7%, one day after a 4.6% decline on July 19th.

Selling would not stop the following day either, when the Dow would fall another 7.84%. This 3 day stretch in 1933 would be responsible for a more than 18% decline in U.S. stocks.

The decline would come at a time when the market had been rising rapidly. In fact, On July 18th, 1933 the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a level that put it up 100% on the year, the only time in history that the index has doubled in a single year.

July 20th, 1969 – At 4:17pm Eastern time, man walks on the moon for the first time.

U.S. stock markets would close the following day to celebrate.

Here is how the newspapers covered the historic event:

The New York Times: