Risk-off periods in markets are nothing new. The first significant case was the stock market crash of 1929 that heralded in the Great Depression. Since markets reflect the global economic and political landscapes, there have been many examples of times when the stock market and other asset prices plunged.
During this century, the first risk-off event came on September 11, 2001, when a terrorist attack hit the United States. In 2008, the global financial crisis that sent markets reeling was on the back of the collapse of the US housing and mortgage-backed securities market. At