Oscillated between a low of 63.90 in mid-1921 to a high of 381.17 in
Sept.1929.    It crashed to 198.69 in Nov.1929 to gradually recover to
294.07 by April 1930, only to drop alarmingly to a low of 86.48 by
late 1931, and continued to drop until mid-1932 to make a new bottom
of 41.22.     In late 1932 there was a recovery upto 79.93, followed
by another drop to 50.16 (higher low) by mid-1933 where the worst was
over.

From the top of 381.17 in Sept.1929 to the low of 41.22 in mid-  1932,
the Dow was down by approx 89.19%.

2. Dow Jones between 1932-1937 &1937 to 1942 :

The period between 1932-1937 was a period of consolidation, when the
Dow moved up from 41.22 in mid-1932 to 194.40 in early-1937.   After
making a high of 194.40 then, the Dow once again crashed into double-
figures in early-1938 to 98.95.   It recovered to 158.41 (lower top)
by late 1938, to move below its early-1939 low of 98.95 at 92.92
(lower bottom) in early 1942 (IInd world war).

From the high of 194.40 in early-1937 to the low of 92.92 in early
1942, the Dow was down by approx 52.2%.

3. Dow Jones between 1942 to 1955-1961.

It recovered from a low of 92.92 in early 1942 to a high of 212.50 in
early-1946, after which it dropped to a low of 163.12 in late 1946 and
recovered to 193.16 (lower top) in mid-1948 only to fall to 161.60
(lower bottom) in mid-1949, when the worst was over and the Dow not
only went on to cross it historic high of 381 (made in Sept.1929) in
1955 but also made a new historic high of 734.91 in late-1961.

From a low of 92.92 in 1942 to a high of 734.91 in 1961, the Dow went
up by approx 790% .

4. Dow Jones between 1962 to 1983.

From a high of 734.91 in late-1961, the Dow dropped to a low of 535.76
in mid-1962, from where it went on to make a new historic high of
995.12 in early-1966, to drop once again to 774.32 (higher low) in
late-1966.    Subsequently, it recovered, albeit to make a lower top,
at 985.21 in early-1969, to drop below its late-1966 low, at 631.16 in
mid-1970. Another historic high at 1051.70 was recorded in early-1973,
from where the Oil price-hike shock took it all the way down to 577.60
in late-1974, but recovered to make a lower-top of 1014.79 in
late-1976 and a higher low of 742.12 in early-1978.   It oscillated
between 742.12 in early-1978 to a lower top of 1024.05 in 1981, and a
higher low of 759.13 in early-1980 in the interim, and again made a
higher low of 776.92 in mid-1982.   With that, the worst was over !

The period between late-1961 to mid-1982, i.e., more than 2 decades,
was apparently the period of consolidation, when the Dow gave almost
"0" returns, if both the extreme periods are considered.

5. Dow Jones between 1982 to date:

After making a higher low of 776.92 in mid-1982, the Dow went on to
make new historic highs at regular intervals, with the then-highest of
2722.42 in October, 1987 when the Black Monday took the investing
world into possibly the worst shock ever, when the Dow plunged by
almost 1000 points (more than 35%) in a single day, to close at
1738.74.

This sharp slump is best described by Russell Rapier, in the  sentence
"The end of a bear market is characterised by a final slump of prices
on low trading volumes" .

Thereafter, the Dow had another almost-uninterrupted run upto 11337.90
in April, 2001 before some correction set in, which culminated in the
9/11 twin-tower catastrophe in Sept.2001 which saw the Dow plunge to
8235, a new low in almost 4 years, followed by another new low of
7286.27 in Oct.2002.   It took the Dow almost 3-1/2 years thereafter
to make a new historic high in Apr.2006 of 14164.53 in October,
2007.   It had been all downhill from there onwards, with a series of
lower tops and lower bottoms, until a new low of 6547 was recorded in
Mar.2009.   A smart recovery of about 35% thence has taken the Dow
close to 8500.

 http://stockcharts.com/charts/historical/djia2000.html