Black Tuesday hit Wall Street on October 29, 1929 as investors
trade 16,410,030 shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a
single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands
of investors, and stock tickers ran hours behind because the
machinery could not handle the tremendous volume of trading.

In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great
Depression.

Crowd gathering on Wall Street after the 1929 crash.

Overall Price index on Wall Street from just before the
crash in 1929 to 1932 when the price bottomed out.

Jack Roland Murphy, who also went by "Murf the Surf,"
was sentenced to three years in jail for stealing 24 gems
from the American Museum of Natural History.

Two men broke into the American Museum of Natural History
in New York City and made off with millions of dollars in gems
on this day in history, Oct. 29, 1964.

The theft was the largest jewel heist in U.S. history.

Among the 24 gems stolen by Allan Dale Kuhn, 26, and Jack
Roland Murphy (also known as "Murf the Surf"), 27, were the
Star of India, a 563.35 carat sapphire; the DeLong Star Ruby,
a 100.32 carat ruby; and the Midnight Star, a black sapphire
weighing 116 carats. 

Kuhn and Murphy were eventually captured and arrested —
and tried for the jewel heist. 

The Star of India, left, and the DeLong Star Ruby, center,
at the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals inside the
American Museum of Natural History in New York. The
two were among the 24 gems stolen in the heist.

The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of
France to the people of the United States,was dedicated in
New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland (below).

Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy.

Complicated and tension-filled negotiations between the United
States and the Soviet Union finally resulted in a plan to end the
two-week-old Cuban Missile Crisis. A frightening period in which
nuclear holocaust seemed imminent began to come to an end.

Scene on the Erie Canal, 1842; wash drawing.

The canal was a major achievement that improved the nation’s transportation infrastructure and provided great economic
benefit for much of the country.

The Erie Canal opened, connecting the Great Lakes with the
Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton
of New York, the driving force behind the project, led the
opening ceremonies and rode the canal boat Seneca Chief
from Buffalo to New York City.

Work began on the waterway in 1817. Teams of oxen plowed
the ground, but for the most part the work was done by
immigrants, among them Irish diggers who had to rely on
primitive tools. They were paid $10 a month, and barrels of
whisky were placed along the canal route as encouragement.

Erie Canal Opening with Governor Clinton (1769-1828).