Minutes before noon, on Thursday, 16th September 1920, an explosion took place on the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street, in front of the offices of JP Morgan & Co.
The blast killed 40 people and injured several hundred more. At the New York Stock Exchange, the windows were blown in, forcing brokers to gather in the middle of the floor. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, although a note was found in a letter-box several blocks away, warning of “sure death to all of you” and signed “American Anarchists.” The Great Red Scare had come to Wall Street. The financiers signalled their defiance: “Back to work tomorrow. The Reds will be defeated.”
The stock market was unperturbed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed a point up on the day of the attack, at 88.63. However, the economy was suffering from the post-war slump and over the next 12 months shares lost half their value. No one was ever prosecuted for the “outrage,” as it became known, although many suspicious-looking foreigners were arrested in the months and years that followed. As time passed people’s fears waned, and soon the great bull market arrived. On the ninth anniversary of the bombing, the Dow Jones stood at 372, up more than four times in the decade.
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