

First speculative bubble - 17th century Holland - semiChoatic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
Probably the first speculative bubble.
======
jacquesm
One of the funniest stories surrounding the 'Tulip craze' was that a captain
of a long distance sea voyage upon returning to the Netherlands found himself
in the ante-room waiting for his masters to hear his report.

He stood there for a while being ravenously hungry, and spotting an onion on a
little plate made short work of it with his pocket knife.

Imagine his surprise when he found himself in the brig for eating a 'prized
possession', he'd just eaten a Tulip bulb that at the market rate of the time
was worth more than his ship.

\--

That's from memory, I'm not sure how accurate it is, or even if it is true, it
was in our history books in school. But still, even if it is just a story it
illustrates nicely just how 'crazy' the Tulip craze really was.

