This Day in History

On May 27, 1937, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was opened to the public for the first time for "Pedestrian Day," marking the start of the weeklong "Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta" held to celebrate its completion. More than 200,000 people paid twenty-five cents each to walk the bridge. The following day at noon President Franklin Roosevelt, from across the continent at the White House, pressed a telegraph key and the Golden Gate Bridge was officially opened for vehicular use. A compilation of raw film footage of both day's events is available as part of the Prelinger Archive, acquired by the Library of Congress in 2002.
Completed just six months after its neighbor, the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge is painted a striking hue known as international orange, a reddish color that was chosen to compliment the bridge's natural surroundings. Like the George Washington, Brooklyn, and Williamsburg bridges in New York City, the Golden Gate is a suspension bridge, held up by massive steel cables strung between towers. Its central span, at 4,200 feet, remained the longest in the world until 1964 when the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, also in New York, was completed. (As of 2007, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan, at 1,991 meters—about 6,532 feet—has the longest single span of any suspension bridge.)
The area known as the Golden Gate is the narrow channel formed at the mouth of San Francisco Bay, where a gap in the line of low mountains opens to meet the Pacific Ocean. Although topographical engineer John C. Frémont first named these rocky straights the "Chrysopylae or Golden Gate" in his report to Congress in 1848, evidence suggests that the term was in use at least a few years earlier. Fremont's designation, which also appeared on his accompanying map of the region, caught the popular imagination when gold was discovered in California soon after.

The Dow Jones

In todays complex world market, there are many elements that drive the economy up or down. One of these elements is the stock market, and the king indicator of the stock market is the Dow Jones. It was on this day in history that the Dow Jones opened for the first time for trade, though the Dow Jones as a business had been around for years prior (the Dow Jones newsletter became the Wall Street Jornal several years befor the Dow Jones began trading). The folloing is a brief history of this american institution.



History of the Dow
The history of the Dow Jones Industrials Average, or DJIA, goes back to May 26, 1896 when Ch
History of the Dow
The history of the Dow Jones Industrials Average, or DJIA, goes back to May 26, 1896 when Charles Dow - Wall Street Journal editor and founder of Dow Jones and Company - first compiled and published the average as an indicator of stock market performance.

When first published, the original components, or member companies, of the Dow Jones Industrial Average included "smokestack" companies across a range of industries. Of the original twelve companies that made up the Dow Jones Industrials back in 1896, only General Electric is still part of the Industrials. The other eleven companies included:
American Cotton Oil - Predecessor of Bestfoods
American Sugar - Evolved into Amstar Holdings
American Tobacco - Broken up in 1911 by antitrust actions
Chicago Gas - Now part of Peoples Energy
Distilling & Cattle Feeding - Evolved into Millennium Chemicals
Laclede Gas - Still in operation as Laclede Group
National Lead - Now known as NL Industries
North American - Utility broken up in the 1940s
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company - Bought by U.S. Steel
US Leather - Dissolved in 1952
US Rubber - Now part of Michelin
Dow Jones Indexes
The original components of the Dow Jones Industrials have changed over the years, and no longer represent companies that are in strictly agricultural and "heavy industries" such as tobacco, sugar, iron, leather, and rubber. As the US economy has grown to rely on other sectors, greater emphasis has been placed on companies providing financial services, retailing, and technology.
The first Dow Jones Index to be introduced was the Industrial Average which was first published on May 26, 1896. Leveraging the popularity and success of the industrials, Charles Dow later introduced the Dow Jones Transportation Average on October 26, 1896 and the Dow Jones Utility Average on January 2, 1929.
Dow Jones Industrials
Today the Dow Jones Industrials Average consists of 30 companies that are thought to best mirror the US economy. Representative companies of the Dow Industrials include 3M, Alcoa, Caterpillar, Home Depot, J.P. Morgan Chase, Microsoft and McDonalds. The Dow Jones Industrials is normally quoted as an index. This means the stock price of each company is multiplied by a weighting factor to derive the index number.
By using an index and introducing a weighting into the formula, companies can be inserted into the average without disrupting the historical movement of the index. A complete listing of the industrial companies and their weighting in the index can be found here - Dow Jones Industrials.
Dow Jones Transportation
The Dow Jones Transportation Index consists of 20 companies that provide transportation services including rail, trucking, airlines and automobiles. Representative companies in the Dow Jones Transportation Index include Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, Yellow Roadway, Southwest Airlines, and Ryder System, Inc. Just like the Industrials, each component or company in the transportation index has a weighting. You can download a complete list of the transportation index here - Dow Jones Transportation.
Dow Jones Utility
The last of the Dow indexes to be introduced, the Dow Jones Utility Average consists of 15 companies providing electric and gas to consumers across the US. Representative companies of the Dow Jones Utility Average include Consolidated Edison, Southern Company, and Williams Cos. You can download the utilities and their component weighting here - Dow Jones Utility.
History of the Average
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the Dow's history is the time it took to reach 1,000 point milestones. When the index was first introduced it stood at 40.94 and it took roughly 76 years to reach the 1,000 mark. As of this writing, the Dow has not hit the 15,000 mark.
The complete milestone history of the average appears in the table below:
DJIA Milestones
Milestone
Date
Time
1,000
November 14, 1972
76 Years
2,000
January 8, 1987
14 Years
3,000
April 17, 1991
4 Years
4,000
February 23, 1985
4 Years
5,000
November 21, 1995
9 Months
6,000
October 14, 1996
11 Months
7,000
February 13, 1997
4 Months
8,000
July 16, 1997
5 Months
9,000
April 6, 1998
9 Months
10,000
March 29, 1999
12 Months
11,000
May 3, 1999
1 Month
12,000
October 19, 2006
7 Years 5 Months
13,000
April 25, 2007
6 Months
14,000
July 17, 2007
3 Months
15,000


The Dow at 12,000
Moving the DJIA from the 11,000 to 12,000 seemed impossible until October 19, 2006 when the Dow broke through a 1,000 milestone for the first time in the 21st century.
This last milestone represents a 1,000 point move in the index, but that's only a 9.1% increase in the average. If you compare that to the 14 years it took to move from 1,000 to 2,000, we're talking about a 50% increase in the average. You can look at our complete article on the Dow at 12,000 for more information on this important and historical achievement.arles Dow - Wall Street Journal editor and founder of Dow Jones and Company - first compiled and published the average as an indicator of stock market performance.

History Of Memorial Day

I found the article below at history.com and found it to be a short yet informative article on the history of Memorial Day. When your kids ask about Memorial Day you can know what you’re talking about. If they don’t ask, tell them anyway! Give them information about relatives, ancestors and friends that have served our country and died to keep us free.

Have a great Memorial Day, but don’t forget why we get a day off from school and work and have a big barbecue, stuffing our faces with our bounteous food!

God Bless America!

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‘Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:

The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.



During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

This 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances of the day in several towns throughout America that had taken place in the three years since the Civil War. In fact, several Northern and Southern cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Miss.; Macon, Ga.; Richmond, Va.; Boalsburg, Pa.; and Carbondale, Ill.

In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, N.Y., the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.



By the late 1800s, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day and, after World War I, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America’s wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. (Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor all veterans, living and dead, is celebrated each year on November 11.)

Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Also, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.

Several Southern states continue to set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day