Internet history
The oldest commercial (“.com”) domain name in the world was registered on March 15, 1985 by now-defunct computer company Symbolics. Symbolics had developed the earliest workstations ever produced in the 1970s, before the term “workstation” entered common use. By the mid-1980s, it had transitioned toward software development and decided to acquire a domain name before anyone really used the Internet — the “www” prefix hadn’t even been created yet! By the late 1980s, Symbolics was on its way to bankruptcy, but the domain survived. It’s still in operation under different ownership; a domain-name holding company acquired it in 2009. Today, there are nearly 250 million top-level domains on the Internet, with roughly half of those consisting of .com or .net registrations.
The dawn of the modern pharmaceutical industry
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) reached two important concurrent milestones on March 15, 1950. That day, the FDA approved the company’s Terramycin antibiotic, which became the first Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)-branded pharmaceutical sold in the United States. The approval also inaugurated the modern pharmaceutical sales strategy when a team of eight salesmen sprung into action that day to move the new product to wholesalers and physicians around the country.
That same day, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) reported its annual results for 1949: $7.9 million in net income on $47.6 million in sales. The next 50 years were proof positive of Pfizer’s new pharmaceutical strategy: Sales grew at an annualized rate of 12.1%, and net income grew by 12.7% per year. By then, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s sales force had grown to 16,700 people around the world.
A merger of equals
Lockheed and Martin Marietta joined forces to become Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) on March 15, 1995. The new company generated a combined $23 billion in revenue the prior year and employed roughly 170,000 people. It was only fitting for the two companies to merge, as their histories had long paralleled each other. Both were founded in 1912, became major military suppliers in World War II, and continued to grow as competitors for the government’s lucrative contracts throughout the Cold War. Despite its greater corporate power as a new megacontractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) did no better than its two major aerospace competitors. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) all finished out the post-merger decade within 2% of each other’s gains, which averaged out to roughly 174%.
The article The Most Incredible Surge in Dow History originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.
Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Chevron. The Motley Fool owns shares of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
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