On March 16, 1999, the Dow Jones industrial average rose above a record-setting 10,000 points for approximately twenty-one minutes.

With the anticipation of this landmark, one might think that the Dow would have remained above the 10,000 mark. However, an astounding number of stocks were sold in the short time after the record average.

According to Frederick O'Smiley, head computer technician for the New York Stock Exchange, there was a good reason for this.

"Well, ya see, laddie, there was a wee error in the Dow Jones point counter on display in the market. When it was made in 1927, they dinnae think that it was gonna go above the thousands. Apparently they were wrong."

As numerous eyewitness accounts confirm, when the Dow rose above 9999.99, it reset to 0000.00, which led the less intelligent brokers into a stock-selling frenzy.

Once it was determined that there was not actually a drastic market crash, trading resumed as usual, albeit with a lower Dow.