On what date did the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy intensify the 2008 global financial crisis?

The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy intensified the 2008 global financial crisis on September 15, 2008.

Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after failing to find a buyer or secure a government-supported rescue. With more than $600 billion in assets, it was the largest bankruptcy filing in United States history at the time. The filing shocked markets because Lehman was a major global investment bank.

The collapse increased uncertainty about which institutions were safe and how deeply financial firms were connected through mortgages, derivatives, and short-term lending. Credit markets froze, stock prices plunged, and governments took extraordinary steps to support banks and the broader financial system.

Lehman was not the first sign of the crisis. The problems had been building through the U.S. housing downturn, rising mortgage defaults, and the failure or rescue of other financial firms. The bankruptcy became a defining turning point rather than the sole cause of the crisis.