Video: '17th May 1792: The Buttonwood Agreement establishes the New York Stock Exchange'

(Thursday, May 17, 1792) — The New York Stock Exchange had its beginnings today as 24 stockbrokers met outside of 68 Wall Street in New York and signed the Buttonwood Agreement, named after their traditional meeting place under a buttonwood tree.

Video: 'New York Rising: Wall Street Marketplace'

The agreement, which organized securities trading in New York City, is the founding document of what is now the New York Stock Exchange.