Stock Market Crash $25 billion lost in one day, about 25% of the nation's population was out of work, and the suicide rate skyrocketed. These are just some of the factors that turned the stock market crash of 1929 into the Great Depression, one of the longest and worst economic recessions of that time, according to History.com. 16 million shares were lost on the New York Stock Exchange, eliminating thousands of investors on October 29, 1929. The stock market crash hit the United States leaving millions of people jobless and putting America in one of its deepest financial and economic crises . holes from back then. Today, Americans are still worried that this could happen again, which is causing some people not to trust banks or invest in the stock market. If the stock market were to crash today, very few Americans would be prepared. Before the Stock Market Crash January 4, 1898 was when the stock market was started. Everyone wanted to own a piece of a business. The way it worked was that the more shares you bought of a company. The more you owned that business. If that business were to become popular, the price would increase because more people would want to be part of the ownership of that business. A bond is very different from stocks, bonds are basically loans. The stock market was initially conceived as a risky investment, but over time it became stronger and people began to trust it more and more. Soon the New York Stock Exchange began a boom in business. As more and more people began to invest, the price of stocks began to rise. This occurred for the first time in 1925. For the next year the stock price continued to go up and down. Then in 1927 they exploded. In early 1929 people were frantically trying... middle of paper... The Depression ended just before the United States and Japan entered World War II. People who lost their homes during the Great Depression lived in places called “Hoovervilles or Shale Towns.” It is named after President Herbert Hoover. When Herbert Hoover was elected president, he wanted to eliminate poverty and by the end of the decade millionaires were created overnight. The stock market crash of 1929 still has an effect on the average American today. Since it crashed in 1929, the stock market has never been the same. There are several rules and regulations that we now have to follow. If the stock market were to crash again, I don't think we Americans would be prepared at all considering the average American already has at least $1,000 in debt. Having another stock market crash today would dramatically change the average American's way of life.