September 29, 2008

778 points (7.0%)
The U.S. House of Representatives' failure to pass the Bush Administration's $700 billion bailout plan triggered the biggest one-day point drop in the history of the Dow Jones industrial average. The market plummeted 778 points, with sellers frantically dumping stocks as fears mounted that Congress would be unable to come up with a speedy fix for the nation's nearly frozen credit markets.