The 2010 market event that sent the Dow down nearly 1,000 points within minutes was the Flash Crash.
On May 6, 2010, U.S. equity markets experienced an abrupt plunge followed by a rapid partial recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 998.5 points, or roughly 9%, from its previous close before recovering much of the loss.
Investigations found that high-frequency trading, automated selling, and unusually thin liquidity interacted during the episode. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission later concluded that a large automated sell order helped trigger the cascade.
The event did not resemble a conventional recession-driven crash. It highlighted the risks of electronic market structure and encouraged reforms such as single-stock circuit breakers and broader limit-up-limit-down controls.