Buttonwood Agreement Signed: Wall Street Is Born
Twenty-four brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement beneath a buttonwood tree on Wall Street, establishing fixed commission rates and mutual trading preferences that formalized securities exchange in New York. This two-sentence document became the founding charter of what evolved into the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest equities market by capitalization.
May 17, 1792
234 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on May 17
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