Bretton Woods Agreement
a.k.a. Bretton Woods system
The 1944 deal that tied major currencies to the US dollar, and the dollar to gold, until it fell apart in the early 1970s.
In July 1944, delegates from 44 Allied nations met in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to rebuild the money system after the war. Under the Bretton Woods Agreement, currencies were pegged to the US dollar, and the dollar could be swapped for gold at $35 an ounce. The IMF and the World Bank were born there too.
It held for about 25 years. Then the US ran short of gold to back all the dollars abroad, and in August 1971 President Nixon suspended convertibility. By 1973 major currencies were floating, and the modern forex market was born.
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