Did you know that the concept of interest rates has been around since ancient times? The Code of Hammurabi, one of the earliest known sets of written laws, established rules for lending and the charging of interest in Babylon around 1754 BC. Another interesting finance fact is that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization. It was founded in 1792 and is located on Wall Street in New York City. Have you ever heard of the term bear market? It refers to a financial market that is experiencing a prolonged period of decline in stock prices, typically caused by a weak economy and investor pessimism. The opposite of a bear market is a bull market, which signifies a period of rising stock prices and investor optimism. Do you know what the Dow Jones Industrial Average is? It is a stock market index that tracks the performance of 30 large, publicly-owned companies in the United States. The DJIA is one of the most widely followed stock market indices and is often used as a barometer of the overall health of the U.S. stock market. These finance facts show the historical significance of interest rates, the influence of major stock exchanges, the impact of bear and bull markets, and the importance of stock market indices in the world of finance.