Did you know…?
The New York Stock Exchange began in a coffee shop.
On May 17, 1792, 24 brokers gathered underneath a buttonwood tree outside of 68 Wall Street in New York City and signed an agreement to only trade with each other. The so-called Buttonwood Agreement was the start of the New York Stock and Exchange Board (now called the New York Stock Exchange). The allied brokers soon decided they needed a place where all they conduct their business, and by early 1793 they had built the Tontine Coffee House on the corner of West and Wall Streets. The coffee house quickly became one of the busiest centers in New York City for buying and selling stock, as well as playing host to auctions, dances, and even political rallies.
By 1817 The NYSEB had outgrown the coffee house and had to move to a bigger place. Although the Tontine itself went through a number of transformations, becoming a tavern in 1826 and a hotel in 1832, it is best remembered as the birthplace of the New York Stock Exchange.
Did you also know…?
- United States History
- If it weren’t for Navajo Indians, the United States would have lost the battle at Iwo Jima.
- Before 1883, there were 8,000 times zones in the United States.
- The first fatality of the Civil War was an accident.
- Many delegates did not sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4th.
- If Benjamin Franklin had his way, our national bird would be the turkey.
- The Liberty Bell was never rung on July 4, 1776.
- The correct folding of the American flag 13 times does not symbolize the 13 colonies.
- Scopes never committed the crime that led to the Scopes Monkey Trial.
- After the doomed Apollo 13 landed, Houston had another—hilarious—problem.
- The United States Constitution isn’t perfect—grammatically speaking.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” was improvised.
- The United States once included a state named Franklin.
- On August 4, 1922, every phone in North America went silent.
- “The Star-Spangled Banner” was originally a British drinking song.
- The shortest U.S. Presidential term was 1 day.
- The New York Stock Exchange began in a coffee shop.
- There was once a 5-cent bill.
- President Roosevelt’s safety during World War II was due to Al Capone.
- Puff the Magic Dragon was a war hero