Central banks wield extraordinary power, yet most people know little about their evolution or how they help shape the world economy. That's about to change with this brief history.

As a key building block of modern society, central banks have influenced the actions of governments and individuals for hundreds of years, allowing nations like the US and UK to gain financial security and rise to prominence on the world’s stage, and saving Western civilization from collapse.

But they’re largely misunderstood—and it doesn’t help that so many myths and conspiracy theories exist. Most people don’t know where the idea of central banking came from, its role in the history of our modern world, and the way it’s still shaping international events and policies today.