Founded by Charles Dow on May 26, 1896 the following 12 companies were part of the original DJIA.
- American Cotton Oil Company, distant ancestor of Bestfoods, now part of Unilever
- American Sugar Company, now Domino Foods, Inc.
- American Tobacco Company, broken up in 1911 antitrust action
- Chicago Gas Company, bought by Peoples Gas Light in 1897 (now an operating subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group, Inc.)
- Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company, now Millennium Chemicals, a division of LyondellBasell
- Laclede Gas Light Company, still in operation as The Laclede Group, removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1899
- National Lead Company, now NL Industries, removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1916
- North American Company, (Edison) electric company broken up in the 1940s
- Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company in Birmingham, Alabama, bought by U.S. Steel in 1907
- U.S. Leather Company, dissolved 1952
- United States Rubber Company, changed its name to Uniroyal in 1961, merged private with B.F. Goodrich in 1986, bought by Michelin in 1990.
So much for blue chip. Apple, Google, and Visa are rumored to be the next candidates for the Dow.
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