Top 10 Dow Jones Drops

In the wake of the U.S. House of Representatives' 228-205 rejection of the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout bill, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 778 points. It was the largest one-day drop in history, though in terms of market percentage lost, it failed to approach the calamitous crashes of 1987, 1929, and 1914.
—Alex Altman & Frances Romero

October 19, 1987

Maria R. Bastone / AFP / Getty
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508 points (22.6%)
The Dow lost more than a fifth of its total value on Black Monday — the biggest one-day percentage drop since 1914. Some of the factors economists blame for the crash include market psychology, program trading, a faltering dollar and turmoil in international markets.

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