When New York was still a Dutch settlement called New Amsterdam, a wall was built to defend the area from potential British and Native American attacks. The Dutch named the road running alongside it "de Waal Straat", which later became Wall Street.
Although “Wall Street” is now shorthand for the U.S. financial industry, the street itself is less than half a mile long, stretching just eight blocks in Manhattan’s Financial District, from Broadway to South Street.
In 1792, 24 stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement under a sycamore tree on Wall Street. This marked the beginning of the New York Stock & Exchange Board — later renamed the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Today, it’s located on Broad Street, just off Wall Street.
New York City, with Wall Street at its core, is regularly ranked as the world’s leading financial centre — often just edging out London. It's home to both the NYSE and NASDAQ, two of the largest stock exchanges on the planet.
In 1929, overinflated stock prices collapsed in a wave of panic selling, triggering the Wall Street Crash. It began with Black Thursday (October 24), followed by Black Monday and Black Tuesday. The crash contributed heavily to the Great Depression of the 1930s.
While it's often said that devastated investors jumped to their deaths after the crash, the reality is more nuanced. There were around 100 suicides in New York between October and the end of 1929 - but only a handful were directly linked to the crash.
Wall Street was a movie released in 1987 which examined the 1980s culture of greed and financial excess that defined the decade. It was directed by Oliver Stone and starred Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Daryl Hannah and Martin Sheen. It was followed by a sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps in 2010 which was again directed by Oliver Stone. Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen returned for it. The film also starred Shia LaBeouf.
The New York Stock Exchange opens at 9:30am and closes at 4:00pm, marked by the famous opening and closing bells. These are often rung by celebrities, business leaders, or athletes as part of promotional events.
Before dedicated buildings, traders gathered in the Tontine Coffee House at Wall and Water Streets. The NYSE moved several times over the 19th century, settling into its current Broad Street building in 1903 - where it remains today.
In 2000, Rage Against the Machine filmed the music video for Sleep Now in the Fire outside the NYSE, causing so much disruption that the building was temporarily locked down. A decade later, in 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement began in nearby Zuccotti Park.
