[Lee Stewart]

Black Friday as we know it actually got its start in the 1950s.

It's all thanks to the Philadelphia police. Back then tourists flooded into the city for the annual Army-Navy football game, according to History.com. Shoplifting became more of a threat due to big-time crowds, so the cops called the chaotic day Black Friday.

The rest of the country didn't make use of the term until the late 1980s. That's when retailers decided to take advantage of the opportunity in a more positive way, according to History.com, as it was usually the point in the year when they were actually able to turn a profit.