Stock market crashes have shaken the global economy as we know it, time and time again. Seemingly all at once, panic, devastation, and overriding uncertainty can break out, leading to horrific stock market crashes. We’ll take a look at some of the images that have surfaced throughout history’s most devastating stock market crashes, to date.
1. A janitor sweeps the floor of New York Stock Exchange following the Wall Street Crash in 1929.

A haunting shot to say the least.
2. The streets were flooded with devastation during the stock market crash.

Absolute chaos broke out.
3. Wall Street on Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929.

u/defiantskeptic./via reddit
Many sleepless nights were had.
4. Crowd reads latest news outside the entrance to the New York Stock Exchange after the stock market crashes on October 24, 1929.

No news can really be the best news in these scenarios.
5. A troubling image from the stock market crash October 29, 1929.
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People probably just didn’t even know where to go.
6. Crowds form outside the Bank of United States’ Southern Boulevard branch in the Bronx as it closed its doors on December 10, 1930.
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Crowds were gathering everywhere.
7. Thomas Frederick Bell, Jr. lost his fortune in the stock market crash so he sold apples to support himself.

Talk about a truly humbling fall from grace.
8. Brokers rush to execute sell orders on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s trading floor in August 1990.
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You can see the mounting panic in that guy’s face.
9. Trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange on October 1929 as stocks crashed, sparking a run on banks.

The trading floor was a tough place to be on that day.
10. Trader reacting to a $1.71 trillion dollar loss.

It’s just wild to ponder over how devastating it was to lose that mountain of wealth.
11. Another trader reacting to the devastation brought on by the stock market crash.
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It was a tough day to keep your head up.
12. The times were extremely tough.

Talk about a tough cookie to swallow.
13. This picture taken at 2:57pm during the 2010 Flash Crash.

The writing is on the wall in this troubling still.
14. The sheer look of defeat.
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Guy can’t even be bothered to stand up anymore.
15. It’s hard to even imagine what must’ve been going through his head.
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It must’ve felt like a literal nightmare.