Short answers, pulled from the story.
Investment is traditionally defined as the commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time. In finance, the purpose of investing is to generate a return on the invested asset, which may consist of a capital gain, periodic income such as dividends or interest, or currency gains.
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, founded in 1602, is often considered the world's first modern securities exchange. It was created to support trading in shares of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the first company to issue publicly traded stock, establishing Amsterdam as a global center of commerce and capital during the 17th century.
The Buttonwood Agreement was signed on the 17th of May, 1792 by 24 brokers, establishing rules for trading securities among trusted parties. It is considered the origin of the American stock market and preceded the formal organization of the New York Stock and Exchange Board in 1817.
Value investing involves buying assets believed to be undervalued by analyzing financial reports and accounting ratios such as earnings per share, the price-to-earnings ratio, and the price-to-book ratio. Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham are the most notable examples; Graham and Dodd's foundational text Security Analysis was written following the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Dollar-cost averaging is the strategy of investing a fixed amount of money at regular intervals regardless of share price, which results in buying more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high. Benjamin Graham is credited with coining the term in 1949 in his book The Intelligent Investor.
The first known investment trust was created by Dutch businessman Adriaan van Ketwich in the late 18th century in the Netherlands. It allowed small investors to combine capital and diversify risk across a portfolio of assets.