As the financial markets continue to struggle, take a look at the recent events that led to the current turmoil.

Sept. 7: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Seized By Government
The U.S. government takes control of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which held about half of the country's mortgages. The move put the liability of more than $5 trillion of mortgages on the taxpayers.

Sept. 14: Bank of America Buys Merrill Lynch
Bank of America, the nation's largest bank, credit card company and mortgage lender, buys Merrill Lynch for $50 billion. The purchase makes Bank of America the largest retail brokerage.

Sept. 15: Lehman Brothers Files Bankruptcy
After the firm reported $19.3 billion in revenue in 2007, Lehman Brothers was forced to file for bankruptcy after it failed to find a buyer for its $60 billion in failing assets. The company had been in business for 158 years.

Sept. 16: Government Gives AIG Emergency Loan
In exchange for nearly 80 percent equity stake in the company, the government announces it will give insurance giant AIG an $85 billion emergency loan. The government said a failure of AIG could be devastating to the already struggling economy and financial markets.

Sept. 17: Barclays Makes Deal With Lehman
After passing on buying Lehman Brothers before the firm filed for bankruptcy, Barclays -- a British bank -- buys the company's North American investment banking and trading operations.

Sept. 19: Bush Announces Bailout Plan
The Bush administration asks Congress for powers to execute a plan to buy bad debt and mortgages.

Sept. 21: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Change Status
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley get approval from the Federal Reserve to transform from investment banks to bank holding companies. The change means the companies will be regulated by the Federal Reserve, and will give them access to its emergency loan program.

Sept. 29: Citigroup Agrees To Buy Wachovia's Banking Operations
Citigroup agrees to buy the majority of Wachovia's banking operations for $2.1 billion in stock.

Sept. 29: House Rejects Bailout Package
The House of Representatives rejects the $700 billion rescue bill by a 228-205 vote.

Sept. 29: Dow Suffers Largest Ever One-Day Drop
The Dow falls 777.68 points to mark its largest one-day point loss in history. The decline is spurred by the House of Representative's rejection of the $700 rescue plan.

Oct. 1: Senate Passes Bailout
The Senate passes an amended proposed bailout bill, putting pressure on the House to do the same.

Oct. 3: Wells Fargo Tries To Acquire Wachovia
Days after Citigroup agrees to buy Wachovia's banking operations, Wells Fargo says it will acquire the company for $14.8 billion in an all-stock deal, without government assistance. This starts a battle between Citigroup and Wells Fargo for the company.

Oct. 3: House Approves Bailout, Bush Signs Bill After the House voted in favor of the bailout 263-171, President George W. Bush quickly signed it. After the vote Bush said the government "acted boldly" to prevent the Wall Street crisis from spreading, but said "our economy continues to face serious challenges."

Oct. 6: Dow Drops Below 10,000
For the first time since 2004, the Dow Jones industrials dropped below 10,000. At one point during the day, the Dow was down 800 points before it rallied near closing to finish the day down 369 at 9,955.50.

Oct. 8: AIG Gets Another Loan From Feds
The Federal Reserve agrees to provide AIG with a loan of up to $37.8 billion, on top of the $85 billion loan it received in September.

Oct. 9: Down Falls Below 9,000
Financial fears caused the Dow to drop to below 9,000 for the first time in five years. The Dow dropped almost 700 points to close at 8,579.19.

Oct. 10: Wells Fargo Wins Battle For Wachovia
Antitrust regulators clear Wells Fargo to acquire Wachovia.

Oct. 28: Dow Has Second-Largest Point Gain Ever
The Dow soars 889 points to reach the 9,065 level.

Oct. 30: Economy Shrinks In Third Quarter, Signaling Recession
The government says consumers cut back on their spending in the third quarter by the biggest amount in 28 years.

Nov. 5: Economy Stumbles After Election
The Dow falls more than 400 points on renewed fears of a recession.

Nov. 10: AIG Gets Bigger Bailout
The government provides new financial assistance to troubled insurance giant American International Group, including pouring $40 billion into the company in return for partial ownership.

Nov. 10: DHL Cuts 9,500 Jobs
Mail and logistics company Deutsche Post AG says it will cut 9,500 jobs and close all of its DHL express service centers in the U.S. amid heavy losses in the market there.

Nov. 13: Jobless Claims Soar
The government says that the number of newly laid-off individuals seeking unemployment benefits jumped more than expected last week to a seven-year high. The Labor Department says jobless claims increased by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 516,000.

Nov. 13: Budget Deficit Reaches Record $237.2 Billion
The federal government begins the new budget year with a record deficit of $237.2 billion, reflecting the billions of dollars the government has started to pay out to rescue the financial system. The Treasury Department says the deficit for the first month in the new budget year was the highest monthly imbalance on record.

Nov. 14: Bush Wants Give $25 Billion In Loans To Carmakers
The White House is throwing support behind a plan to speed release of $25 billion in loans to troubled automakers but is rejecting a Democratic proposal to use money from a financial bailout for car companies. Spokeswoman Dana Perino said the Democratic proposal would lead to partisan gridlock because the $700 billion rescue package was never intended to help automakers and shouldn't be now.

Nov. 15: World Leaders Seek To Prevent Future Economic Crisis
World leaders are agreeing to flag risky investing and regulatory weak spots in hopes of avoiding future financial meltdowns. President George W. Bush and leaders from nearly two dozen countries endorse broad goals to fend off any future crisis and revive the economy. They are pledging to lay the foundation for reform so that the kind of global crisis now dragging down the economy does not happen again.

Nov. 19: Dow Drops Below 8,000 For First Time Since 2003
Wall Street hit its lowest level since 2003. The Dow Jones industrial average fell below the 8,000 mark. It dropped nearly 430 points to 7,997. The news came as major automakers await a decision from Congress about a bailout for their industry.

Nov. 20: Jobless Claims Rise
Labor Department reports that claims for unemployment benefits hit their highest level since 1992. The Labor Department said new applications for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 542,000 from a downwardly revised figure of 515,000 in the previous week.