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  • 68 Wall Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
    Thursday May 17, 1792
    New York Stock Exchange

    Buttonwood Agreement

    68 Wall Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
    Thursday May 17, 1792

    The earliest recorded organization of securities trading in New York among brokers directly dealing with each other can be traced to the Buttonwood Agreement. Previously, securities exchange had been intermediated by the auctioneers, who also conducted more mundane auctions of commodities such as wheat and tobacco. On May 17, 1792, twenty-four brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement, which set a floor commission rate charged to clients and bound the signers to give preference to the other signers in securities sales.




  • Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
    Monday May 21, 1792
    Disasters with highest death tolls

    1792 Unzen Earthquake and Tsunami

    Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
    Monday May 21, 1792

    The 1792 Unzen earthquake and tsunami resulted from the volcanic activities of Mount Unzen (in the Shimabara Peninsula of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan) on 21 May. This caused the collapse of the southern flank of the Mayuyama dome in front of Mount Unzen, resulting in a tremendous megatsunami, killing 15,000 people altogether.




  • Shimabara Peninsula of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
    May, 1792
    1792 Unzen earthquake and tsunami

    Megatsunami

    Shimabara Peninsula of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
    May, 1792

    It is not known to this day whether the collapse occurred as a result of an eruption of the dome or as a result of the earthquakes. The tsunami struck Higo Province on the other side of Ariake Bay before bouncing back and hitting Shimabara again. Out of an estimated total of 15,000 fatalities, around 5,000 are thought to have been killed by the landslide, around 5,000 by the tsunami across the bay in Higo Province, and a further 5,000 by the tsunami returning to strike Shimabara. The waves reached a height of 33–66 ft (10–20 m), classing this tsunami as a small megatsunami. At the Osaki-bana point Futsu town, the waves locally grew to a height of 187 ft (57 m) due to the effect of sea bottom topography.




  • U.S.
    May, 1792
    George Washington

    Valedictory Address

    U.S.
    May, 1792

    In May 1792, in anticipation of his retirement, Washington instructed James Madison to prepare a "valedictory address", an initial draft of which was entitled the "Farewell Address".




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