1987: Wall Street takes its worst plunge of the modern era, as the Dow loses 508 points, or 22.6% (the worst daily loss on record), to close at 1738.74. Traders on Wall Street's equity desks sit watching the ticker in shocked, dead silence as it plunges faster and farther than anyone alive has ever seen. By day's end, more than 500 million shares have changed hands and traumatized analysts are predicting a severe recession.

Yale Hirsch, 2000 Stock Trader's Almanac (Hirsch Organization, Old Tappan, NJ, 1999), p. 154;Jason Zweig, live reporting and interviews for Forbes, October 1987