The Dow closed at 381.17 on September 3, 1929, right before the crash. It did not close above that level again until November 23, 1954 — nearly 25 years later.

The only four-year losing streak in Dow history is the Great Depression: the index fell 17% in 1929, 34% in 1930, 53% in 1931, and 23% in 1932. 1931 remains the worst calendar year the Dow has ever recorded.

The Dow spent the entire 1970s going almost nowhere. It closed 1969 at 800.36 and closed 1979 at 838.74 — a gain of just 38 points, in price terms, across ten full years.

The stock market doesn’t always track the economy. In 1908 — a recession year in which the earnings of Dow companies were roughly cut in half — the Dow itself rose about 46%.