We present a new time-accurate algorithm for the explicit numerical integration of the compressible Euler equations of gas dynamics. This technique is based on the discrete-event simulation (DES) methodology for nonlinear flux-conservative PDEs [Y.A. Omelchenko, H. Karimabadi, Self-adaptive time integration of flux-conservative equations with sources, J. Comput. Phys. 216 (1) (2006) 179-194]. DES enables adaptive distribution of CPU resources in accordance with local time scales of the underlying numerical solution. It distinctly stands apart from multiple (local) time-stepping algorithms in that it requires neither selecting a global synchronization time step nor pre-determining a sequence of time-integration operations for individual parts of a heterogeneous numerical system. In this paper we extend the DES methodology in three important directions: (i) we apply DES to a system of coupled gas dynamics equations discretized via a central-upwind scheme [A. Kurganov, E. Tadmor, New high-resolution central schemes for nonlinear conservation laws and convection-diffusion equations, J. Comput. Phys. 160 (2000) 241-282; A. Kurganov, S. Noelle, G. Petrova, Semidiscrete central-upwind schemes for hyperbolic conservation laws and Hamilton-Jacobi equations, SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 23 (3) (2001) 707-740]; (ii) we introduce a new Preemptive Event Processing (PEP) technique, which automatically enforces synchronous execution of events with sufficiently close update times; (iii) we significantly improve the accuracy of the previous algorithm [Y.A. Omelchenko, H. Karimabadi, Self-adaptive time integration of flux-conservative equations with sources, J. Comput. Phys. 216 (1) (2006) 179-194] by applying locally second-order-in-time flux-conserving corrections to the solution obtained with the forward Euler scheme. The performance of the new technique is demonstrated in a series of one-dimensional gas dynamics test problems by comparing numerical solutions obtained in event-driven and equivalent time-stepping simulations.