Fewest 1% Declines in the S&P 500 in a Year

If we hold the line today, the S&P 500 will have gone the first two months of the year without dropping more than 1% in a single day.  In the context of recent volatility, this is a pretty spectacular statistic, but what about in the context of history?

Below is a chart of the number of days per year that the S&P has dropped by more than 1% going back to 1957.  Last year there were 48 such days; there were 73 in 2008.  On average, the S&P drops by 1% or more 26 times per year. In 1961, 63 and 64 it dropped by 1% only 3 times, the lowest in the data-set.

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