Which was the first Black Friday in History?
The retail bonanza known as Black Friday is now an integral part of many Thanksgiving celebrations but this holiday tradition has darker roots than the shopping frenzy it alludes to. First recorded use of the term "Black Friday" was employed not to holiday shopping but to financial crisis : Specifically, the crash of the U.S gold market on September 24, 1869 Two notoriously ruthless financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk plotted to buy up as much as they could of the nation's gold hoping to drive the price sky-high and then sell it for astonishing profits. It was on that Friday in September that the conspiracy finally unraveled, sending the stock market into free- fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers. The popular story behind the post-Thanksgiving shopping-related Black Friday tradition links to its retailers. After an entire year of operating at a loss in the red , stores would supposedly earn a profit went into t...