Major U.S. stock indices posted their biggest gains in two months Tuesday as traders were encouraged by more efforts by China to stem a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy and prices for crude oil and natural gas bounced higher. The Dow gained 222.44 points (1.26%) to finish at 17,928.35, the NASDAQ closed 59.67 points (1.26%) higher at 4,809.99, and the S&P 500 increased 25.70 points (1.25%) to 2,084.39. The Russell 2000 was up 10.58 points (0.95%) at 1,128.83, and the Wilshire 5000 climbed 253.71 points (1.19%) to 21,530.12.

On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares changed hands, with advancing issues outnumbering declining issues more than 3 to 1. On the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares traded, with a near 2 to 1 lead for advancers.

ON THIS DATE: In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam (what is now Manhattan, New York) to become governor. In 1858, Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state. In 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was established. In 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded. In 1934, a severe two-day dust storm stripped the topsoil from the great plains of the U.S. and created a “Dust Bowl.” The storm was one of many. In 1947, the creation of the tubeless tire was announced by the B.F. Goodrich Co. In 1997, Garry Kasparov, world chess champion, lost his first ever multi-game match to IBM’s chess computer Deep Blue. It was the first time a computer had beaten a world-champion player.