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At 5:12 a.m., one hundred years ago today, San Francisco was destroyed by a massive earthquake. Of a population of 400,000, an estimated 225,000 to 300,000 were made homeless. The official death toll was 478, but it was probably closer 3,000.

That day, the Dow dropped from 96.84 to 95.67. Two weeks later, the Dow closed at 86.45. In today’s terms, that would be equivalent to a loss of 1,200 points.

The market recovered but crashed again in March 1907, then again in October 1907 after two brothers tried to corner United Copper. They failed (sound familiar), and it led to a huge bank run.

The financial system was bailed out thanks to a loan from J.P. Morgan. The crisis led to the passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913.

Posted by edelfenbein at April 18, 2006 6:00 AM