Q 01/05

Roughly how many shares traded on 'Black Tuesday', 29 October 1929, the worst day of the crash?

A) 16.4 million

B) 1.6 million

C) 6.4 million

D) 64 million

Answer · why

A) 16.4 million

Five days earlier, Black Thursday had set the previous record of 12.9 million shares.

Q 02/05

Before the 1929 crash, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen roughly how much over a nine-year run?

A) Twofold

B) Fivefold

C) Tenfold

D) Twentyfold

Answer · why

C) Tenfold

It peaked at 381.17 on September 3, 1929, a level it would not see again until 1954.

Q 03/05

Which flower was at the centre of what is generally called the first recorded speculative bubble?

A) Rose

B) Orchid

C) Tulip

D) Lily

Answer · why

C) Tulip

The Dutch mania peaked in the winter of 1636-37, when a single rare bulb could fetch more than ten times a skilled artisan's annual income.

Q 04/05

In what year did the Dutch tulip market dramatically collapse?

A) 1602

B) 1637

C) 1694

D) 1720

Answer · why

B) 1637

The most expensive bulb of the mania, the Semper Augustus, had sold for 10,000 guilders, roughly the price of a grand canal house.

Q 05/05

On Black Monday, 19 October 1987, the Dow Jones fell by roughly what percentage in a single day?

A) 22.6%

B) 25.6%

C) 32.6%

D) 42.6%

Answer · why

A) 22.6%

The 508-point drop remains the largest one-day percentage fall in the index's history.