Dutch Tulip Mania (1637)

Dutch Tulip Mania remains the benchmark for speculative frenzy, with a single tulip bulb selling for 10 times a skilled laborer's annual income—more than an Amsterdam canal house—before prices crashed 99% in February 1637. This collapse, which ruined thousands of speculators, outperforms #10 Argentine Crisis in speed of wealth destruction but affected a far smaller economy. Tulip contracts fell to less than 1% of their peak value within six weeks, a sharper decline than the average bubble crash.