The Black Friday Archive collects Black Friday ads from the past 25 years

There were roughly 17 Black Friday-related deaths and 125 injuries between 2006 and 2021

A website called Black Friday Death Count or “BFDC” scrapes news headlines for Black Friday-related deaths and injuries reported around the world. It includes the overall count of Black-Friday related deaths, as well as the context for each of them.

In 2024, the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday saw 197 million shoppers

Some argue Black Friday has gone from one day of the year, to two days of the year, including Cyber Monday sales, to, more recently, an entire week. In recent years, companies have offered steep discounts for a week at a time rather than just one or two days.

Online Black Friday shoppers spent over 10% more in 2024 than they did in 2023

Online shoppers shelled out some $11.3M per minute between 10 am and 2 pm on Black Friday 2024, according to Adobe Analytics data. The $10.8B online shoppers spent on Black Friday 2024 was more than double the amount they spent online in 2017.

In 2024, Black Friday was observed in 129 countries

Brazilians adopted Black Friday in 2010. Today, 60% of Brazilians participate in the shopping event. Large corporations offering Black Friday sales in the US (like Amazon, for instance) began offering similar deals in places like the UK, spreading the holiday internationally.

JCPenney offers an average Black Friday discount of 59%—higher than most other US retailers

This data visualization ranks retailers like Target, Walmart, Macy’s, and more by who has the best Black Friday deals on average. Specifically, the visualization uses data from 13 major US retailers in 2023.

The National Retail Federation coined the term ‘Cyber Monday’ in 2005

As online-only retailers like Amazon expanded in the early 2000s, they sought ways to capitalize on Black Friday’s uptick in sales—but they didn’t actually have physical retail stores. Enter: Cyber Monday, a day that now competes with Black Friday for the highest e-commerce sales day of the year.

Screaming, running, and chaos in retailers like Walmart are the norm on Black Friday

This Black Friday episode from Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast features stories both from people who have worked behind the register on Black Friday and those who have stood in line at 4 am to score some deals. From police escorting violent shoppers competing over a discounted laptop computer out of the building, to a false-alarm emergency exit from a Dick's Sporting Goods, the episode is both harrowing and hilarious at times.

The term ‘Black Friday’ originally referred to a 1869 US gold market crash

After financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the US gold market, the market crashed on September 24, 1869, bankrupting thousands of investors and sending stock prices plummeting by 18%. That day became known as “Black Friday” long before the unofficial retail holiday emerged.

Bed Bath and Beyond’s 20% off coupon had a cult following

The home goods store’s most fervent fans loved these coupons so much that some bought them in batches on eBay. The FBI even reportedly found one of these big blue coupons in famous mobster Whitey Bulger’s junk drawer. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Consumer spending accounts for 70% of US GDP, making Black Friday significant

Lizabeth Cohen, a history professor at Harvard and author of the book “A Consumer's Republic: The Politics Of Mass Consumption In Postwar America,” has argued that the US government has presented consumerism as a way out of economic crisis or decline since around World War II.

Explore Sears’ holiday Wish Book catalogs dating back to 1930

The Sears Wish Book was a holiday-themed version of its catalogs that helped people make Christmas gift wish lists and more from the 1930s until the early 2000s. See what they looked like with editions in this archive.

The most iconic vintage ads

Looking at vintage ads can provide a deep dive into the history of how businesses communicate with their customers. This archive of some of the most iconic print and out-of-home ads of all time breaks down why each ad resonated at the time (think brutally honest copywriting, and long copy that is a pleasure to read). See ads from Porsche, Listerine, and more.

Explore a Macy's historical timeline

From its founding as RH Macy & Co. in 1858, to its 150th birthday in 2008, Macy’s has a long and storied history. Luckily, the store has chronicled many of its major milestones on its website, including key Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade milestones.

See the original websites for companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple

Explore archived images of homepages on websites dating all the way back to 1991.

Explore an archive of Budweiser’s past Super Bowl ads

With about 47 of them airing over the past few decades, Budweiser’s Clydesdale ads have basically become synonymous with the Super Bowl—but how many have you actually seen? From 1991 to 2024, this website includes many of Budweiser’s most famous Super Bowl ads.

See some of the weirdest Advent calendars you can buy

Modern Advent calendars span nearly every niche imaginable. Shoppers can now buy versions filled with cheese, dog treats, hot sauce, and even sexual-wellness products, reflecting how far the tradition has expanded beyond simple chocolate countdowns.

Browse over a century of Billboard issues

For a music nerd, there's nothing more fascinating than poring over the Billboard charts from past decades to see how music—and the way it's categorized—has evolved. This digital archive allows you to click through almost every issue of the magazine and, in the process, watch the gradual emergence of nearly every American musical trend of the past century.

North American department store retail groups report sales declined from 2018 to 2023

That's according to a recent report from Bain & Company that dives into consumer sentiment around department store shopping and explores a potential reset for the industry.

Explore early Thanksgiving documents, from recipes to early proclamations

History buffs will love this trove of original documents related to the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving, including 18th-century recipes, one of Sarah Josepha Hale’s appeals to President Lincoln to establish the national holiday, and a copy of Abraham Lincoln’s original 1863 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. You can also find illustrations and photos of historical Thanksgiving celebrations over the years.

The Internet Archive is a nonprofit digital library of the Web

Founded in 1996, the Archive promotes open access and the digital preservation of online information and, as of 2026, contains more than 200 petabytes of content, including over one trillion web pages, 56 million books and texts, 13 million audio recordings, 1.3 million software programs, and other digital content.

Read about the history of gift cards

The first retailer to sell gift cards was Neiman Marcus, but Blockbuster popularized them by selling them via in-store displays in 1994. Starbucks then started selling gift cards that could be reloaded in 2001.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Find decades of Hanukkah stories to listen to

For over 30 years, National Public Radio has broadcast its Hanukkah Lights series, a collection of original fiction that relates to the holiday. Here, you’ll find a repository of listeners’ favorite past tales, going back decades.

Explore a comprehensive archive of US presidential election data

This University of California, Santa Barbara archive compiles presidential election data from 1789 to the present, including popular vote totals, turnout figures, and contextual resources that explain how the electoral process and political landscape have evolved.

Peruse a running sale of collectible checks

The George H. Labarre galleries hold regular auctions of collectible checks, along with other numismatic items (such as coins, paper money, and so on). See the antiquated iconography on old checks from railroads, regional banks, and businesses.

Read Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters from 1977 on

Each year, Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder letters are eagerly anticipated by employees and Buffett fans alike. A resource lists every single letter from 1977 and is great for anyone seeking a peek behind the curtain into Buffett’s brain through years of stock market booms and busts.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.