The New York Stock Exchange was started in 1792

The first US stock exchange dates back to the 1790s in Philadelphia

Only two years after that stock exchange in Philadelphia started, the largest stock exchange in the US to date was created: the New York Stock Exchange.

A history of stock exchanges, from Venitain merchants to modern day

While the idea of stock exchanges—markets where securities can be bought and sold—is mostly synonymous with Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, and other modern markets, places to buy and sell financial instruments have a long history....

The origin and history of stock exchanges

When were stocks first sold? Though debt was first sold in Venice in the 14th century, stocks proper began in the Netherlands. To fund its spice trade across the world in 1602, the Dutch East India Company sold stocks to individual investors, a novel approach to raising funds. It was the Dutch West India Company that founded New York—the site of some of the world’s greatest stock exchanges. Listen to a concise historical overview here.

The history of Wall Street as a financial center dates back to the 1700s

Wall Street’s history as a financial center started with the establishment of two institutions: the New York Stock Exchange and New York City’s first official slave market.

Who are the people standing on the floor of the NYSE?

Today, not all of the trading is done on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange itself (computers help now), so it isn’t as chaotic as it once was. However, the NYSE is one of the few remaining trading floors where much active trading still happens in person.

The world's oldest stock exchange was called the Amsterdam Stock Exchange

What is now referred to as Euronext Amsterdam got its start centuries ago, in the early 1600s. Back then, it was called the Amsterdam Stock Exchange—and it might not have existed without the Dutch East India Co.'s desire to raise funding for its seafaring ventures.

The Nasdaq was founded in 1971, marking the debut of electronic trading

The Nasdaq stock exchange arguably invented electronic trading, making it a key part of fintech history. It's often used as a benchmark for how the tech industry is performing.

As technology evolved, so did Wall Street

Before the telephone was invented in the mid 1800s, people had to trade stocks in person. But once office telephones and computers became commonplace, banks and other financial institutions didn't necessarily need to have their headquarters near exchanges like Wall Street's New York Stock Exchange.

What is after-hours trading?

While both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq open at 9:30 am ET and close at 4 pm ET, some trading is allowed after that. After-hours trading was once only open to institutional investors and people with particularly high net worths. Now, with the advent of computers, anyone can trade stocks anywhere online, and those regulations have broadened.

Hamilton founded what many regard as the first commercial bank in the United States

In 1784, Alexander Hamilton helped found the Bank of New York, which initially operated without a charter, financed early federal operations, provided what is considered the US government's first loan, and became the first stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

What’s up with the new Texas Stock Exchange?

The two biggest stock exchanges in the U.S. are both based in New York—the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. But a potential new “Texas Stock Exchange”—which would be based in, you guessed it, Texas—could change that. To find out more about the project, backed by enormous companies such as BlackRock and Citadel, watch this video.

The New York Stock Exchange wouldn't have been made if not for municipal bond sales

The Funding Act of 1790 nationalized and consolidated the debt held by the 13 colonies to be sold off in the form of bonds.

There's a grading room on the eighth floor of the New York Stock Exchange where experts loudly slurp coffee and then spit it out to test its quality

Since many agricultural commodities are traded through futures, testers ensure that the physical product that reaches the market accurately reflects the price. Coffee graders at the NYSE have to pass a four-day-long exam that's only offered every five years and has a less than 10% pass rate.

The fees for keeping a company listed on the NYSE are typically higher than the Nasdaq's

The current maximum annual listing fee for companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange was $500K as of early 2026. The maximum annual listing fee for companies listed in Nasdaq's top tier, on the other hand, was of $193K. Companies listed must pay these fees each year.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

The Times Square New Year's celebration originated as a party for The New York Times

The paper moved to the area, originally called Longacre Square, in 1904 and lobbied the city to rename it after the publication. The paper’s publisher, Alfred Ochs, threw a massive all-day party on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the opening of the paper’s headquarters, establishing the location as a destination for the holiday.

Why the SEC was started

The Securities and Exchange Commission was created during the Great Depression to restore public trust in financial markets after the 1929 crash. Established in 1934, it enforces transparency, investigates fraud, and protects investors by requiring companies to disclose accurate information and holding violators accountable.

The evolution of New York City

Originally founded as New Amsterdam, this interactive timeline lists out and provides deep dives on the major events that shaped New York City as it became America's foremost cultural and economic hub.

The Dow Jones & Company began as a small news service in 1882

Founded in 1882 by Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser, Dow Jones & Company started with hand-delivered market bulletins. Today it’s a global financial news giant, best known for publishing The Wall Street Journal.

The State of the Union address was first delivered in New York City

The first address took place in New York City in 1790, when President George Washington addressed Congress at Federal Hall—the nation's capital under the Articles of Confederation and the seat of the federal government during the Constitution's first year.

Peter Tuchman is known as the 'Einstein of Wall Street'

Peter Tuchman has worked on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange for over four decades and ranks among the most famous traders in history. “I still get butterflies in my stomach every morning when I come into work,” he said.

NYC's first subway was built largely in secret

In 1870, Alfred Ely Beach secretly tunneled under Broadway in 58 nights, disguising his pneumatic subway as a mail tube to fool Tammany Hall, the corrupt political machine that ran New York City. Nearly half a million New Yorkers rode it before politics, and a stock market crash killed the project.

An overview of New York's iconic stoops

In New York City, stoops are cherished and fundamental aspect of life in many neighborhoods. In a city where yards are a rarity, stairways are places for New Yorkers to socialize and relax. Follow the history of these sites in this video, starting from their Dutch origins to their impact on city life today.

The first coffeehouse opened in Constantinople

Coffeehouses began opening in modern-day Istanbul sometime in the 1500s. These cafes quickly became invaluable spaces for gathering and exchanging news and ideas.

The first rooftop solar panels were installed in 1883

In 1883, New York inventor Charles Fritts created the first solar cell by coating selenium with a thin layer of gold. The cell achieved energy conversion rates of 1 to 2% compared to the 15 to 20% of modern photovoltaics.

The modern quiz show debuted in 1926

“The Brooklyn Daily Eagle on Current Events” was a radio show on New York’s WNYC. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle was a local newspaper, providing an air of authority to the format, with the paper’s associate editor acting as quizmaster.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day