Black Friday. It sounds sinister, like something to be avoided at all costs, but tell that to the thousands of people who will be taking part in Black Friday come 27 November.
It's is a heavily discounted shopping day we’ve imported from the US, falling on the day after Thanksgiving.
The name was originally used in September 1869, when two gold speculators attempted to own the entire market on the New York Stock Exchange. They failed.
Black Friday means headaches and bargains in equal measure
The result was a government intervention which involved flooding the market with gold, prices plummeted and many investors lost sizeable fortunes. Ouch.
Now it refers to the biggest shopping day of the year. The craze has spread from the US, to Canada and now to Europe.
Black Friday was confirmed as the biggest online shopping day of the year in the UK for the first time in 2014 – with consumers parting with a whopping £810m - far exceeding the predicted spend of £363m.
SEE ALSO:
- Thought You Bought Too Much Crap On Black Friday? These People Actually Did
- Black Friday Sales - A Fine Example of Unadulterated Capitalism
- Millions Of Britons Left Spiritually Empty After Buying Crap They Didn't Need On Black Friday
- The Madness of Materialism - A Very Black Friday Indeed
- We're Not American, So We Should Stop Calling It Black Friday!
- Asda Cheerleaders Are Black Friday At Its Worst
Black Friday is immediately followed by Cyber Monday, when further discounts will be offered and the frenzy is expected to continue.
Sadly the madness sometimes culminates in tears, handcuffs and even tragedy. In 2008 a Walmart employee was trampled to death and in 2011 a woman pepper-sprayed rival shoppers over an Xbox.
The darker side of Black Friday...