History
The first ever government bond was issued by the Bank of England in 1693 to raise money to fund a war against France. It was in the form of a tontine. Later, governments in Europe started issuing perpetual bonds (bonds with no maturity date) to fund wars and other government spending. The use of perpetual bonds ceased in the 20th century, and currently governments issue bonds of limited duration.
Read more about this topic: Government Bond
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Revolutions are the periods of history when individuals count most.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)