Just say the words 'stock market crash' to any investor and you can be guaranteed of a cringe, a wince, or full blown tears. There is nothing so scary to an investor than a stock market crash. What factors contribute to a stock market crash? Well, there are a lot of things that can shake public confidence in the economy. Shareholders start a massive sell-off of their stock and this leads to a stock market crash. Here are some of the major crashes in recent history:

10th Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 1/15/2000
End: 10/9/2002
Duration: 999 days
Losses: -37.8%
This stock market crash was one of the longest recorded and was precipitated by the September 11th attacks. While long, the overall losses incurred were comparatively small.

9th Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 11/21/1916
End: 12/19/1917
Duration: 393 days
Losses: -40.1%
Many experts agree that this stock market crash was as a result of World War I


8th Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 9/12/1939
End: 4/28/1942
Duration: 959 days
Losses: -40.4%
This is yet another stock market crash that proves that war is not good for the economy. This crash was participated by the Pearl Harbor attacks and the combination of losses and duration make it one of the worst ever.

7th Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 1/11/1973
End: 12/06/1974
Duration: 694 days
Losses: -45.1%
The destabilization of the economy by the Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal lead to this stock market crash.

6th Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 6/17/1901
End: 11/9/1903
Duration: 875 days
Losses: -46.1%
Little is known about this stock market crash other than it occurred.

5th Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 11/3/1919
End: 8/24/1921
Duration: 660 days
Losses: -46.6%
There is sometimes a pattern after a war occurs. There can be a drop in stock prices, followed by a boom. This was the case here, were there was a crash than a boom of 51%, then another stock market crash.

4th Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 9/3/1929
End: 11/13/1929
Duration: 71 days
Losses: -47.9%
This was the shortest and deadliest stock market crash ever to be recorded and is credited for starting the ?Great Depression?.

3rd Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 1/19/1906
End: 11/15/1907
Duration: 665 days
Losses: -48.5%
This stock market crash is commonly termed the 'Panic of 1907' and required government assistance to stabilize.

2nd Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 3/10/1937
End: 3/31/1938
Duration: 386 days
Losses: -49.1%
The unease associated with the onset of World War II precipitated this crash.

1st Worst Stock Market Crash
Start: 4/17/1930
End: 7/8/1932
Duration: 813
Losses: -86.0%
It took over 20 years for the economy to fully recover from this stock market crash.