1999: The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission cracks down on the offering of so-called "free stock" over the Internet. The SEC finds that Internet users willing to provide their e-mail addresses are receiving "free" shares in companies that plan to go public — but that the companies are not disclosing their risks. One of them, it turns out, plans to revive lunar exploration; another promises its new shareholders that their stock will be worth at least $200 a share, although the company has so far generated less than $30 in total gross revenues.

Jason Hubschman, "The 'Odd-Duck Filing' and the Efficient Market Theory: Meeting SEC Registration Requirements for Internet Free Stock Programs," New York Law School Law Review, Vol. 44, Nos. 3-4, 2001, pp. 563-566

1946: The Bretton Woods Agreement is signed in Mount Washington, N.H., pegging major foreign currencies to the U.S. dollar, fixing the gold price at $35 per ounce, and laying the groundwork for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Jack Weatherford, The History of Money (Crown, New York, 1997), p. 183.