How did the Dow Jones Industrial Average begin?
On May 26, 1896, Charles Henry Dow, co-founder of Dow Jones & Co., first published an average of 11 stocks, mostly railroads, to help investors make sense of which way the market was moving. It was first distributed through handwritten news releases rushed to professional investors throughout the trading day. Later it was published in Customers Afternoon Letter, a daily financial newsletter that became The Wall Street Journal.
