Dow calculated his first average purely of industrial stocks on May 26 , 1896 , creating what is now known as the '' Dow Jones Industrial Average '' . None of the original 12 industrials still remain part of the index . They were : When it was first published in the mid-1880s , the index stood at a level of 62.76 . It reached a peak of 78.38 during the summer of 1890 , but ended up hitting its all-time low of 28.48 in the summer of 1896 during the Panic of 1896 . Many of the biggest percentage price moves in the Dow occurred early in its history , as the nascent industrial economy matured . The 1900s would see the Dow halt its momentum as it worked its way through two financial crises ; the Panic of 1901 and the Panic of 1907 . The Dow would remain stuck in a range between 53 and 103 points until late 1914 . The negativity surrounding the 1906 San Francisco earthquake did little to improve the economic climate
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Dow Jones Industrial Average