On this day, Oct. 29 ...

1929: "Black Tuesday" descends upon the New York Stock Exchange. Prices collapse amid panic selling and thousands of investors are wiped out as America’s “Great Depression” begins.

Also on this day:

1901: President William McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz is electrocuted.

President William McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz is electrocuted. 1911: Hungarian-born American newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer, 64, dies in Charleston, S.C.

Hungarian-born American newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer, 64, dies in Charleston, S.C. 1956: "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" premieres as NBC’s nightly television newscast.

"The Huntley-Brinkley Report" premieres as NBC’s nightly television newscast. 1987: Following the confirmation defeat of Robert H. Bork to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, President Ronald Reagan announces his choice of Douglas H. Ginsburg, a nomination that would fall apart over revelations of Ginsburg’s previous marijuana use.

Following the confirmation defeat of Robert H. Bork to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, President Ronald Reagan announces his choice of Douglas H. Ginsburg, a nomination that would fall apart over revelations of Ginsburg’s previous marijuana use. 1998: Sen. John Glenn, at age 77, roars back into space aboard the shuttle Discovery, retracing the trail he’d blazed for America’s astronauts 36 years earlier.