Chronology of
Dow Jones Industrial Average

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internet e-mail: ken@kpolsson.com
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URL: http://kpolsson.com/dowjones/

This document is an attempt to bring various published sources together to present a timeline about Dow Jones Industrial Average.

References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2023 December 20.


1884

July 3
  • The Customer's Afternoon Letter first publishes Charles Dow's American stock average, containing eleven railroad and industrial stocks: Chicago & North Western, Delaware Lackawanna & Western, Lake Shore, Louisville & Nashville, Missouri Pacific, New York Central, Northern Pacific pfd., Pacific Mail, St. Paul, Union Pacific, and Western Union. (This selected stock average will later become the Dow Jones Industrial Average.) [5] [228]

1885

February 16
  • Charles Dow's American industrial stock index removes St. Paul, and adds Central Pacific, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul, and Delaware & Hudson Canal. [228]

1886

January 2
  • Charles Dow's American industrial stock index removes Central Pacific and Central Railroad of New Jersey. [228]

1894

April 9
  • Charles Dow's American industrial stock index removes Lake Shore Railroad, New York Central, and Pacific Mail Steamship, replacing them with American Sugar, Chicago Burlington & Quincy, and Chicago Rock Island & Pacific. [228]

1896

May 26
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average is first published in Customer's Afternoon Letter. It represents the average of twelve stocks from important American industries. The previous index by Charles Dow of mostly railroad stocks is replaced by only industrial stocks.Initial value is 40.94. The stocks are General Electric, American Cotton Oil Company, American Sugar Company, American Tobacco Company, Chicago Gas Company, Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company, Laclede Gas Light Company, National Lead Company, North American Company, Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company, U.S. Leather Company, and United States Rubber Company. [1] [227] [228]
August 8
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 28.48, the lowest point ever for this index. [228]
August 26
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes North American from its index, replacing it with U.S. Cordage pfd. [228]
October 8
  • Dow Jones starts reporting an average of industrial stocks. [1]
November 10
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Pacific Mail Steamship from its index, replacing it with U.S. Rubber. [228]
December 23
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes U.S. Cordage pfd. from its index, replacing it with Standard Rope & Twine. [228]

1898

March 24
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Chicago Gas from its index, replacing it with People Gas. [228]
September
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes General Electric from its index, replacing it with U.S. Rubber. [228]

1899

April 21
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes American Spirits Manufacturing, American Tobacco, Laclede Gas, and Standard Rope & Twine from its index, replacing them with Continental Tobacco, Federal Steel, General Electric, and American Steel & Wire. [228]

1901

April 1
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes American Cotton Oil, Federal Steel, General Electric Company, Pacific Mail Steamship, and American Steel & Wire from its index, replacing them with Amalgamated Copper, American Smelting & Refining, International Paper pfd., U.S. Steel common, and U.S. Steel pfd. [228]
July 1
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Continental Tobacco and International Paper pfd. from its index, replacing them with American Car Foundry and Colorado Fuel & Iron. [228]

1905

April 1
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes U.S. Leather pfd. from its index, replacing it with U.S. Rubber 1st pfd. [228]

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1906

January 12
  • First time Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 100 (100.26). [1]

1907

November 7
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Tennessee Coal & Iron from its index, replacing it with General Electric. [227] [228]

1912

May 12
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Colorado Fuel & Iron from its index, replacing it with Central Leather common. [228]

1914

December 12
  • The New York Stock Exchange re-opens (was closed four months). The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops from 71.42 to 54, a drop of 24 percent. [227]

1915

March 16
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes U.S. Rubber 1st pfd. from its index, replacing it with General Motors Corporation. [228]
July 29
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Amalgamated Copper from its index, replacing it with Anaconda Copper. [228]

1916

October 4
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average of American stocks expands from 12 to 20 stocks. The index removes National Lead, Peoples Gas, General Motors and U.S. Steel pfd., and adds American Beet Sugar, American Can, American Locomotive, American Smelting, American Telephone & Telegraph, Baldwin Locomotive, Goodrich, Republic Iron & Steel, Studebaker, Texas Company, Utah Copper, Westinghouse, and Western Union. [228]

1920

March 1
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes American Beet Sugar from its index, replacing it with Corn Products. [228]

1924

January 22
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Corn Products, Central Leather, Goodrich, and Texas Company from its index, replacing them with American Tobacco, Du Pont, Mack Trucks, and Sears Roebuck. [228]
February 6
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Utah Copper from its index, replacing it with Standard Oil of California. [228]
May 12
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Studebaker and Republic Iron & Steel from its index, replacing them with Studebaker non-par and Woolworth $25 par. [228]

1925

August 31
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Anaconda Copper, Baldwin Locomotive, Du Pont, Standard Oil of California, and Studebaker from its index, replacing them with General Motors Corporation, International Harvester, Kennecott, Texas Company, and U.S. Realty. [227] [228]
December 7
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes U.S. Realty and Westinghouse Electric from its index, replacing them with Allied Chemical and Paramount Famous Lasky. [228]
December 31
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Kennecott and Mack Trucks stock dividend from its index, replacing them with Remington Typewriter and Mack Trucks ex-stock dividend. [228]

1927

March 16
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Remington Typewriter from its index, replacing it with United Drug. [228]

1928

October 1
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expanded from 20 stocks to 30. A divisor is introduced to adjust for extraneous changes to a stock, such as a split. The initial divisor is 16.67. The index removes American Car & Foundry, American Locomotive, American Telephone & Telegraph, American Tobacco, Paramount Famous Lasky, United Drug, U.S. Rubber, and Western Union, and adds American Tobacco B, Atlantic Refining, Bethlehem Steel, Chrysler, General Railway Signal, Goodrich, International Nickel, Nash Motors, North American, Paramount Publix, Postum Incorporated, Radio Corporation, Standard Oil (N.J.), Texas Gulf Sulphur, Union Carbide, Victor Talking Machine, Westinghouse Electric, and Wright Aeronautical. [227] [228]

1929

January 8
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Victor Talking Machine from its index, replacing it with National Cash Register. [228]
September 3
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average hits a high point of 381.17. (This pre-crash high is not surpassed until 1954, adjusted for inflation.) [227]
September 14
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Wright Aeronautical from its index, replacing it with Curtiss-Wright. [228]

1930

January 29
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes North American from its index, replacing it with Johns-Manville. [228]
July 18
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes American Sugar, American Tobacco B, Atlantic Refining, General Railway Signal, Goodrich, Nash Motors, and Curtiss-Wright from its index, replacing them with Borden, Eastman Kodak Company, Goodyear, Liggett & Myers, Standard Oil of California, United Air Transport, and Hudson Motor. [228]

1932

May 26
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Liggett & Myers, Mack Trucks, United Air Transport, Paramount Publix, Radio Corporation, Texas Gulf Sulphur, National Cash Register, and Hudson Motor from its index, replacing them with American Tobacco B, Drug Incorporated, Procter & Gamble Company, Loew's, Nash Motors, International Shoe, International Business Machines, and Coca-Cola Company. [227] [228]
July 8
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average hits a low point of 41.22, 90 percent of its pre-crash peak. [1] [227]

1933

March 15
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes with a record one-day percentage gain of 15.34 percent. [227]
August 15
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Drug Incorporated and International Shoe from its index, replacing them with Corn Products Refining and United Aircraft. [228]

1934

August 13
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes United Aircraft from its index, replacing it with National Distillers. [228]

1935

November 20
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Borden and Coca-Cola Company from its index, replacing them with Du Pont and National Steel. [227] [228]

1939

March 14
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average removes Nash Kelvinator and International Business Machines from its index, replacing them with United Aircraft and American Telephone & Telegraph. [227] [228]

End of 1884-1953. Next: 1954.

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1884-1953 1954-end


A list of references to all source material is available.


Last updated: 2023 December 20.
Copyright © 2008-2024 Ken Polsson (email: ken@kpolsson.com).
URL: http://kpolsson.com/dowjones/
Link to Ken P's home page.

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