10 years ago this week: Friday the 13th saw a 190-point plunge in the stock market, the biggest drop since the crash of October 1987. Southern California was hit hard, led by Hilton Hotels Corp.’s 20 percent drop. Five days later, the Dow regained more than 88 points El Diario, one of L.A’s three Spanish-language newspapers, folded after two and a half years in print.

The newsmaker

Sony Corp.’s founder and Chairman Akio Morita was criticized for co-authoring a book (“The Japan That Can Say ‘No'”) with anti-American Japanese politician Shintaro Ishihara. Morita expressed regret for his association with the project, which referred to the United States as a “shifty country,” and criticized U.S. business practices and so-called “racial prejudice.” Meanwhile, Time Warner Inc. filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Sony, charging that the company lured Peter Guber and Jon Peters away from Warner Bros. to run Columbia Pictures Entertainment, which Sony was in the midst of acquiring.

The numbers

October 11, 1989

Dow Jones Industrial Average 2785.33

London gold $361/oz.

Cross-country skis $70

Car CD player $499