Famous Days for Students of English

24-10-1929

After World War I, some European countries have money problems. Inflation is very high in Germany. People pay 3 billion marks for bread.

However, for America, the 1920s are very happy years. Factories make more things. People have more money. There are a lot of nice things on the market. People think that these happy times are here forever.

In New York, the prices of stocks are going up and up. More and more people are interested in stocks. However, these people are not businessmen. They are normal people. They buy something what they don’t understand.

These people also don’t have a lot of money. They borrow money from the banks. These people buy stocks. They want to sell them later when the price is higher. Many people do this. The prices of stocks go up and up.

Then October 24, 1929 comes. It is a day which people later call Black Thursday. On that day, a lot of people want to sell their stocks. However, there is nobody who wants to buy them.

Prices start to go down. The market collapses. A lot of people lose all their money.

Many banks and companies close. Many Americans lose their homes. They are without work.

Difficult words: inflation (when things cost more), forever (for all future time), stock (a piece paper which is a part of a company), borrow (when somebody lends you money and you must pay it back), call (give a name), collapse (fall apart).