It is a desert out there for stock traders for much of the day, with meaningful volume increasingly concentrated in the opening minutes and final half-hour of the daily trading session, according to this fascinating article in The Wall Street Journal.

The report goes on to examine the possible causes and how it underlines fears about a lack of liquidity in stocks as well as other financial markets, while this related article notes how the late rush has provided a welcome boost to floor activity at the New York Stock Exchange.

And while no one seems to be suggesting that stock exchanges should start adjusting their hours of operation, the phenomenon serves as a reminder that trading hours have evolved over the years as patterns have shifted. Current regular trading hours for all major U.S. exchanges have been in place since just 1985.

With that in mind,here’s a summary of the history of the New York Stock Exchange’s regular trading day, according to information contained in the exchange’s own timeline:

“Continuous trading,” in which orders are executed when they’re received, didn’t take hold until around 1871. Before that, New York traders had more or less lifted a page from their competitors in Philadelphia, trading in two separate “call trading” sessions in the morning and afternoon.

In call trading, an official reads out a list of stocks, which brokers then trade in turn. Here are five significant moments in the evolution of trading on the NYSE:

1871

Trading hours in the early days of continuous trading fluctuated, kicking off at 10 a.m. Eastern Time and ending between 2 and 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

1887

In May, new trading hours are set to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday.

1952

Why not take the full weekend off? In September, the Saturday session is done away with, while a half-hour is tacked on to the trading day Monday through Friday, stretching the sessions from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

1974

The exchange in October adds another half-hour on to the end of the session, which now lasts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

1985

No more sleeping in as the NYSE moves the open up by a half-hour. Trading hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., where they remain.