October 29, 1929 was "Black Tuesday," capping the first-ever back-to-back double-digit percentage losses in stocks. A record 16.4 million shares traded hands, as huge blocks of blue chip stocks were traded for "whatever price they would bring."  The market fell 30.57 points, to 230 on the Dow.  Then came the third best market day in history, +12.3% on October 30, 1929, up 28.4 points, back to 258.47, or within a whisker of where it started on Black Tuesday, at 260.

Bullish False Alarms on October 29

On October 29, 1993, the Dow Jones index reached a record high, at 3687.86, but it was still languishing at or below that level one year later, during a year-long market malaise in 1994.

On October 29, 1974, the Dow gained 25.50 points (+4.0%), from 633.84 to 659.34, but alas, the index was to fall back to its ultimate 577 bottom within five weeks, in early December, 1974.

On October 29, 1987, the Dow gained 91.51 points (+5.0%), the fourth largest percentage daily gain since 1950, rising from 1846.82 to 1938.33, but it fell to 1766 by December 4, 1987.

1956: The World in Crisis

On October 29, 1956, David Brinkley and Chet Huntley teamed up for the first time, on the NBC Evening News, and—like the world today, and always—there were a lot of global tensions. 

The Hungarian and Suez Canal crises were both in full swing, when Israel launched an attack on Egypt and its Arab allies on this day.  General Moshe Dayan sent Israel paratroopers to seize the Gaza Strip in a lighting attack, driving through the Sinai to the east bank of the Suez Canal.

Two days later, Britain and France formed a coalition with Israel, demanding the immediate evacuation of Egypt from the Suez Canal.  Huntley and Brinkley picked a great week to debut.

Famous Firsts on October 29

• 1682: William Penn landed in what later was called Pennsylvania.
• 1787: Mozart's greatest opera, "Don Giovanni," was first produced (in Prague).
• 1863: The International Committee of the Red Cross was formed, in Geneva.
• 1945: The first ball point pen went on sale, 57 years after it was patented.

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