August 29, 2016

The New York Stock Exchange was founded on May 17, 1792, when 24 stockbrokers signed an agreement establishing the basic rules for stock trading. This document was named the Buttonwood Agreement, because these pioneering stockbrokers would regularly meet beneath a buttonwood tree on New York City's Wall Street. The organization drafted its constitution on March 8, 1817, and named itself the "New York Stock & Exchange Board". In 1863, this name was shortened to its modern form, the "New York Stock Exchange".