The Dow Jones Industrial Average was created in the aftermath of a financial crisis

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was created in 1896

Charles Dow introduced the DJIA on May 26, 1896, as a simple average of 12 industrial stocks. Although it became the nation’s most enduring market index, none of its original companies remain in the Dow today.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks 30 large U.S. companies from all major U.S. sectors except for utilities and transportation. It's considered a bellwether of the U.S. economy.

The Dow remains a shorthand for America’s economic health

For over a century, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been one of the most closely watched market barometers. Its rises and falls dominate headlines and politics, shaping how Americans perceive the strength of their economy.

The Dow Divisor keeps the index consistent through time

To adjust for stock splits, mergers, and replacements, the DJIA uses a figure called the Dow Divisor. Originally valued around 12 in 1896, and now less than one, it ensures today’s index levels remain comparable with the past.

The Dow now tracks 30 major US companies across various industries

Since 1928, the DJIA has included 30 firms. Today's group spans technology, healthcare, and finance—with Apple, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, and Coca-Cola among its most recognized components.

The Dow Jones & Company began as a small news service in 1882

Founded in 1882 by Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser, Dow Jones & Company started with hand-delivered market bulletins. Today it’s a global financial news giant, best known for publishing The Wall Street Journal.

Relive the biggest swings in the Dow’s history

From the 1929 crash to the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020, this piece spotlights five of the most dramatic single-day moves in the Dow’s 125-year history.

Critics argue the Dow no longer reflects the modern economy

With only 30 companies and a price-weighted formula, skeptics say the DJIA underrepresents vast sectors of the market. They claim it is outdated, though its close correlation with the broader S&P 500 keeps it relevant.

See every company in and out of the Dow since 1928

The index has had 30 companies since 1928. See each company’s tenure on the index and what firms were added or replaced by year and industry.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average vs. the S&P 500: Which one is a better representation of the economy?

The Dow and S&P 500 are both indexes meant to provide a broad representation of the economy. The Dow has 30 companies and is weighted by share price, while the S&P 500 has 500 different companies weighted by market capitalization. Since the indexes are so different, investors don't always agree on which index is a better representation of the economy—though the two move in the same direction more than 90% of the time.

Dow components are chosen by a committee, not a formula

Unlike many indices, the Dow has no strict rules for inclusion. A small committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices uses judgment—favoring companies with strong reputations, steady growth, and broad investor interest.

In 1999, Microsoft and Intel’s addition signaled the information tech era for the Dow

Microsoft and Intel became the first information technology firms added to the DJIA. Their inclusion marked a turning point—the digital revolution and tech began to drive the American economy.

Dow Theory laid the groundwork for modern market analysis

Developed by Charles Dow in the late 19th century, Dow Theory argued that markets move in trends. Its principles—confirmation, trends and volume—still influence technical analysis today.

A stock market timeline

The stock market has come a long way since the 1600s, when the first version of a stock exchange was created in Amsterdam. Mile markers along the way include everything from the Dow Jones Industrial Average's creation in 1896 to the stock market woes during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Before the S&P 500 launched in 1957, Standard and Poor's had a daily index with just 90 companies

Unlike previous indexes from S&P, the S&P 500 could be computed in real time using computer technology that tracked stock tickers across stock exchanges. This innovation is partly what led to 500 companies being listed on the index, a huge increase from the 90 companies in S&P's flagship index when the company had to do all the analysis by hand.

GE’s removal marked the end of an era for the Dow

General Electric, the last surviving original Dow component, was dropped in 2018, after years of decline. Its exit symbolized the fading dominance of industrial giants and the index’s shift toward technology and healthcare.

Why the SEC was started

The Securities and Exchange Commission was created during the Great Depression to restore public trust in financial markets after the 1929 crash. Established in 1934, it enforces transparency, investigates fraud, and protects investors by requiring companies to disclose accurate information and holding violators accountable.

Markets have always recovered and hit new highs following crashes

The crash that preceded the Great Depression was the most severe the US has ever experienced. It was 28 times worse than the downturn that followed the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Nasdaq 100 index tracks the exchange's 100 largest non-financial companies

This index was created in 1985, over a decade after the Nasdaq first launched. The companies on the index must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum average daily trading value of $5M.

Retail investing by the numbers

When average Americans began pouring into the stock market, Wall Street wasn’t sure if its new guests were there to stay. But at the end of 2023, Public confidently declared that retail investors “weren’t going anywhere” after 30 million new individuals began buying and selling stock. Download the report to learn more here.

The term ‘Black Friday’ originally referred to a 1869 US gold market crash

After financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the US gold market, the market crashed on September 24, 1869, bankrupting thousands of investors and sending stock prices plummeting by 18%. That day became known as “Black Friday” long before the unofficial retail holiday emerged.

The financial crisis in 2008 had a major impact on many 401(k) plans

Amid the 2008 financial crisis, stocks and bonds cratered as the broader market floundered due to the subprime mortgage crisis. Investors with so-called "target-date" funds—which shift allocations based on the maturation of a fund—shared in the slump, with some funds declining by 20% or more just a year or two away from maturation.

Famed American investor Jesse Livermore made millions when the stock market crashed in 1929

Livermore made his first major short against rail company Union Pacific in 1906, coincidentally before an earthquake in San Francisco, which ultimately tanked share prices. During a financial panic the next year, JP Morgan reportedly asked Livermore to increase his long-term investments to restore hope and restabilize the market—which Livermore did. However, Livermore began betting against the market in 1929, sensing that stocks were too hot, and was one of the few people to benefit from the 1929 stock crash.

The concept of CDs dates back to the 1600s in Europe

Banks in the US started issuing CDs in the early 1800s as the banking system began to take shape following the Revolutionary War. The federal government did not formally insure CDs until the FDIC was formed in 1933.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

The G20 emerged from the 1997 Asian financial crisis as a forum for managing the global economy

Established in 1999 and elevated to a leaders' summit during the 2008 financial crisis, the G20 now unites the world's largest economies to address issues that the Bretton Woods institutions were not designed to manage.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Fear or disgust related to clusters of holes and cracks, called trypophobia, may stem from evolutionary processes to help us avoid pathogens.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.