Charles Dow is the owner of the two oldest U.S. market indexes: the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Dow Jones Transportation Average. Their familiar name takes inspiration from Dow’s own surname and from Edward Jones, one of Dow’s business associates and statisticians.

On this day, November 11th, in 1972, the Dow Jones Index passed the 1,000 mark for the first time.

The industrial average, according to the Dow, started out closing first at 40.94 points in 1896. Then, in 1972, it closed at 1003.16. The Dow passed the 10,000 mark for the first time on March 29, 1999. Despite the small number of stocks contained in the index, the Dow scores are the most important indicator of the stock market in the world.