At about 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 15, 2008, a press release went out from the 158-year-old investment bank Lehman Brothers announcing it was seeking bankruptcy protection. Lehman’s downfall would become the watershed event of the financial crises.

While this event may not be seared into American memories like the September 11 terrorist attacks, the collapse of Lehman triggered the worst financial tsunami since the Great Depression and was a seismic shock to global financial markets.