130 Years of Headlines

Today, we live in the age of the constant news cycle. 24/7, incredibly fast- similar stories, different day.

The Wall Street Journal debuted 130 years ago in 1889. Back in the day, there were no smart phones, televisions or computers to garner the daily stories. Citizens relied on good ole black and white (along with the radio which came about in a similar era.)

The old adage goes "history has a tendency to repeat itself." While that may not always be the case, it sure does usually rhyme.

It is incredibly important to have a familiarity with milestone events that have led our world to where we are today.

The WSJ profiled their most prolific headlines over the past 130 years. I have aggregated them here! Let's go back in time for a bit...

1911. Standard Oil Company is ordered to be dissolved by the Supreme Court citing monopoly status.

1913. The Federal Reserve Board is created. Consisting of 9 members; 3 chosen by the President and the Senate, 3 by the Federal Reserve Banks and 3 by the Secretary of Treasury, Agriculture and Comptroller. The board will be divided into 12 districts, each having its own bank.

1914. The Panama Canal is opened. Steamship Ancon, owned by the U.S., was the first to pass.

1914. On August 5th, Germany declares war on France and Belgium.

1924. Formerly known as "Computing-Tabulating," International Business Machines (IBM) is renamed.

1930. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill passes in the Senate with a 44-42 vote. Raising import duties to protect American businesses and farmers, this added considerable strain to the international economic climate of the Great Depression

1933. Secretary of the Treasury, William Woodin, announces the official abandonment of the "Gold Standard."

1934. President Roosevelt signs into order the creation of the Stock Market Regulatory Board.

1935. The first technicolor movie is presented.

1935. The system of Social Security is established by President Roosevelt (signing seen below.)

1941. The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii pushes the U.S. to war.

1944. Initial work on developing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) begins.

1945. Victory in Europe Day, AKA VE-Day, takes place as the Nazis surrender. In the U.S., a scale back of military equipment manufacturing is implemented.

1948. Music is now able to be played via records for an enhanced period of time: 1 1/2 hours, front and back.

1949. AT&T installs over 65,000 miles of cable since the war. Post WWII, over 10 million were awaiting telephone access.

1949. "The Electric Brain" is created. Following the Eniac, which was essentially the first computer, the "Binac" costs around $250K and can compute 12,000 times faster than the human brain.

1956. General Motors profit tops $1B for the first time.

1958. Japanese autos enter U.S. markets: Nissan and Toyota.

1958. The rise of Mutual Funds spur more Americans to invest in the U.S. stock market.

1959. Bank credit cards and buying on credit garner popularity.

1960. The rise of the licensee/franchisee business blooms in the U.S. creating a large increase in income.

1962. Segregation still runs strong as housing developments remain split by race.

1964. The Beatles make their mark on America.

1964. 12-digit phone numbers are developed linking much of the world.

1970. The beginning of women working to end sex bias in the workplace.

1972. Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are implemented by banks.

1972. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hits 1,000 (it is over 27,000 today.)

1973. The business of "paid TV" rises.

1973. The Cold War reduces the amount of oil flowing to the U.S. from Arab countries.

1975. Social Security is reported to be on track to bankruptcy.

1976. A spotlight is placed on sexual harassment in the workplace.

1977. Computers are no longer only an at-work luxury. In-home computers are hitting the markets.

1977. The origins of balancing a portfolio of stocks to track indices such as the S&P 500 take place known as "Index Investing."

1978. Scientists warn of Antarctic temperatures rising caused by the burning of oil and gas.

1979. Inflation hits record highs as President Carter is set to be sworn-in.

1981. The basis of "supply-side economics" falters as the deficit and interest rates soar as a result of tax cuts.

1981. After it's creation 5 years prior, Apple hits sales of $330MM.

1983. Regional phone companies continue break-ups. One of the 7 entities, Bellsouth, spins off from AT&T.

1986. The topic of the "Glass Ceiling" is raised as top executives are questioned as to why many do not have any women in key, policyholder positions.

1986. The case of Ivan Boesky raises the profile for insider-trading cases on Wall Street.

1987. October 19th marks Black Monday as the Dow drops 508 points in a single-day of trading.

1993. The House approves the formation of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) under President Clinton.

1995. Studies show many Baby Boomers save little and they may run into financial trouble later on (sound familiar, Millennials?!)

1995. Netscape, the Internet server and World Wide Web browser, IPO's.

1996. After leaving Wall Street 2 years prior, Jeff Bezos nabs more than $5M in sales from his online retail business he formed the prior summer. Known as Amazon.com, the main product they sell: books.

1999. A compromise to dissolve the Glass-Steagall Act is reached. This would eliminate financial services restrictions dating back to the 1930's which prevented banking, insurance and securities firms from entering each others respective industries.

2001. In September, an attack killing 3,000 Americans takes place in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.

2002. As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been growing their debt at an annual clip of 25%, they now have $2.6T in debt outstanding.

2005. Colleges fear students are exposing too much personal information on a new site called "Facebook."

2007. Apple announces the intention to release a media-playing, cellphone called the "iPhone."

2008. Crisis on Wall Street ensues as Lehman Brother teeters, Merril Lynch is sold to Bank of America and AIG looks to raise cash- an $85 billion loan later was provided by the Federal Reserve.

2010. Obamacare is voted on and ultimately taken-up.

2015. Investors have poured more than $400M into start-up, Theranos. Promising to run numerous tests from a single drop of blood, the tests able to be performed are much fewer than promised.

2016. In a historic election which has left markets reeling, the U.K. has voted to leave the E.U.

2016. Donald Trump is elected president of the United States riding a populist wave.

2017. The exhaustion of American liberalism as white guilt gave us mock politics based on moral authority.

2018. The China problem is now predatory use of government power to punish foreign competitors to benefit Chinese companies.

What headline will come next? Suppose we will just have to wait and see!

Full link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/130-years-of-history-as-seen-in-the-pages-of-the-wall-street-journal-11562544331