Economy GDP

The world’s first stock exchange opened in Amsterdam in 1602. Investors gathered to trade shares of the Dutch East India Company—creating modern capitalism.

During the Great Fire of London in 1666, most people didn’t have insurance. The devastation inspired the creation of the first modern fire insurance companies.

Before coins or paper, ancient societies used ‘commodity money’ like salt, cattle, or even cacao beans. The word ‘salary’ comes from ‘salarium’—Roman soldiers being paid in salt.

The U.S. Federal Reserve was created in 1913 after repeated banking crises. Its main goal: stabilize the economy and prevent panics that had plagued the 19th century.

In the 1800s, Britain’s Industrial Revolution made it the ‘workshop of the world.’ By 1850, it produced more iron than the rest of the world combined.

In 1944, the Bretton Woods Conference created the IMF and World Bank. It also pegged global currencies to the U.S. dollar, cementing America’s financial dominance after WWII.

The Silk Road wasn’t just about silk. It carried spices, glass, gold, and ideas—transforming economies from China to Rome. Some historians call it the world’s first ‘globalized’ trade network.

Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany (1921–1923) was so extreme that people carried wheelbarrows full of banknotes to buy bread. Some even used cash as wallpaper because it was cheaper than paper.

The Great Depression of the 1930s wiped out nearly 25% of U.S. GDP, but it also gave rise to Social Security, unemployment insurance, and modern banking reforms that reshaped the economy.