The Mint Act or Coinage Act: it regulated the coinage of the United States and established the dollar as the unit of money.

April 2, 1792

The Buttonwood agreement: foundation of the New York Stock Exchange, now called Wall Street, after a meeting of 24 stockbrokers under a Buttonwood (a plane tree).

May 17, 1792

The first One Dollar Bill

1861

Foundation of the First Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, a national bank. This institution was supported by Alexander Hamilton.

February 25, 1791

Foundation of the Second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, a private corporation with public duties.

1816

First railroad company listed at the New York Stock Exchange.

1830

Financial crisis due to speculative lending prices on western states and a decline in cotton prices

1837
On May 10 banks in New York City suspended specie payments, event known as the Panic of 1837.

Black Thursday in Wall Street : beginning of the stock market crash that engendered a worldwide economic and financial crisis.

October 24, 1929

The Great Depression

1930s (1929-1941)

California Gold Rush, after James W. Marshall found gold in Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California

1848-1855

First drilled well in Titusville, Pennsylvania and beginning of the "Black gold fever"

1859

The Revenue Act: First Federal Income in the United States

August 5, 1861

Federal Reserve Act: creation of the Federal reserve (FED) to avert further financial panics

1913

The assembly line developed by Henry Ford and its economic model (fordism) begins to spread in the US.

1914

The first New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt: the Emergency Banking Relief Act, The Banking Reform Act, creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation etc.

1933-1934

"General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" by John Maynard Keynes

1936

Bretton Woods Agreement: creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), introduction of an adjustable pegged foreign exchange rate system.

July 1944

The War on Poverty and the Economic Opportunity Act

1964

Arab oil embargo and petroleum supply shocks

1972-1973

Creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

1994

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act : shift in the United States' economic policies

1996

Collapse of Lehman Brothers

2008

Bursting of the "Housing Bubble", new crisis of the banking system

2007

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Financial Regulatory Reform

2009-2010

The Dow Jones is officially launched by Charles Dow.

1896

Black Monday in Wall Street

October 19, 1987

Fair Labor Standards Act is passed, setting the first minimum wage in the U.S. at 25 cents per hour

June 25, 1938