Dow plunges 1,175 – worst point decline in history

The drop amounted to 4.6% – the biggest decline since August 2011, during the European debt crisis. But it was nowhere close to the destruction on Black Monday in 1987 or the financial crisis of 2008. Still, for investors lulled to sleep by the steady upward climb since Election Day, it was alarming.

And the rout in U.S. markets continued to ripple around the globe. Japan’s Nikkei index plunged 4% in Tuesday morning trading while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia dropped 3%.