benzinga takes a look back at a notable marketrelated moment that occurred on this date on this day in 1972 the dow jones industrial average hit 1000 for the first time where the market was the dow closed at 100316 and the sp 500 traded at 11495 today the dow is trading at 33747 and the sp 500 is trading at 3992 what else was going on in the world in 1972 11 athletes from israel were murdered by a terrorist gunman at the munich olympics five white house operatives were arrested for breaking into the offices of the democratic national committee as part of a scandal that would become known as watergate seventysix years after its creation the dow finally hit the 1000 mark on nov 14 1972 the dow was first published back in 1896 and included just 12 stocks the initial price of the index was 4094 none of the 12 original dow stocks remain in the index today the dow expanded to 30 stocks in 1928 and peaked at 38117 in september 1929 its predepression high by july 1932 the index was trading at just 4163 down more than 90 in a threeyear stretch in 1954 25 years after the 1929 crash the dow closed above 400 for the first time after surpassing 1000 in 1972 the dow hit 2000 15 years later in 1987 10000 12 years after than in 1999 and 25000 another 19 years later in january 2018 why ges removal from the dow could help investors