CHRONOLOGY-2008 a year of global financial turbulence

Oct 1 (Reuters) - The biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression nearly 80 years ago has hit the world this year. Here are some key dates:

Jan. 11 - Bank of America (BAC.N) pays $4 billion for Countrywide Financial CFC.N after the mortgage lender goes bust when risky loans to shaky borrowers fail.

Feb. 17 - Britain's Northern Rock is nationalised after funding crisis.

March 16/17 - Bear Stearns BSC.N sold to U.S. investment bank JP Morgan Chase (JPM.N) for about $2 a share.

July 13 - U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve effectively nationalises mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) in a bid to support U.S. housing market.

Sept 14/15 - Investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK) files for bankruptcy protection; rival Merrill Lynch & Co Inc MER.N agrees to be taken over by Bank of America Corp (BAC.N)

Sept. 16 - Fed announces plan for $85 billion loan to American International Group Inc (AIG.N) in return for 80 percent stake in the insurer; Britain's Barclays (BARC.L) buys parts of Lehman's North American assets for $1.75 billion.

Sept. 17 - British bank Lloyds TSB Group Plc (LLOY.L) agrees to rescue rival HBOS Plc HBOS.L, scooping up Britain's biggest home loan lender in an all-share deal.

Sept. 18 - The UK Financial Services Authority imposes a temporary ban on short-selling financial stocks, a move echoed in other centers.

Sept. 19 - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls for the government to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to take toxic mortgage assets off the books of financial companies to restore financial stability. News of the bailout plan helps world stock markets soar.

Sept. 20 - Details emerge of a $700 billion plan to bail out firms burdened with bad mortgage debt.

-- A U.S. bankruptcy judge approves a revised version of Barclays purchase of the core U.S. business of Lehman.

Sept. 21 - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) become bank holding companies regulated by the Fed.

Sept. 22 - Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T) says it will buy Lehman's franchise in Asia Pacific and acquires Lehman's business in Europe. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (8306.T) agrees to buy up to 20 percent of Morgan Stanley for $8.5 billion.

Sept. 23 - AIG signs "definitive" agreement for up to $85 billion in borrowings from the Fed, the main part of a rescue plan that will see it take a 79.9 percent stake in the insurer.

Sept. 24 - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) says it will buy up to 9 percent of Goldman, which also announced plans to sell $2.5 billion in common stock.

-- CNN says the FBI is investigating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG and their senior executives for potential mortgage fraud.

Sept. 25 - Washington Mutual is closed by the U.S. government in the largest failure of a U.S. bank. Its banking assets are sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) for $1.9 billion.

Sept. 29 - Britain announces the nationalization of mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley Plc BB.L. Spain's Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) will buy its retail deposits and branch network. Banking and insurance company Fortis NV (FOR.BR) is bailed out by Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments to the tune of 11.2 billion euros ($16.4 billion). Wachovia Corp WB.N agrees to sell most of its assets to Citigroup Inc (C.N) in a deal brokered by regulators.

-- U.S. House of Representatives rejects the $700 billion rescue plan for the financial industry. Dow Jones .DJI posts its largest point decline ever while the S&P 500 .SPX has its worst day since 1987 with an 8.8 percent drop.

Sept. 30 - World stocks fall to near three-year lows but fears of a major meltdown ease as European losses are muted.

- EU regulators endorse a 6.4 billion euro public bailout of Belgian-French financial services group Dexia SA (DEXI.BR) (DEXI.PA).

-- Ireland pledges more than double its GDP to guarantee all bank deposits.

Oct. 1 - U.S. Senate passed a revamped U.S. financial rescue plan aimed at restoring global financial stability, sending the measure to the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote expected on Friday.

(Writing by David Cutler and Gill Murdoch, Editorial Reference Units in London and Beijing;)