Where were you on January 22, 1993? If you don’t remember, maybe this will help: The very first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to hit U.S. stock exchanges was launched on that date. Still doesn’t ring a bell? There wasn’t great fanfare surrounding the first ETF launch, so if 1993 is still a blur, you’re not alone.

Time sure flies, and it’s already been 30 years since the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), the invention of State Street Global Advisors, made its debut on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX). How did it all get started?

From the beginning, the birth of ETFs was a collaborative effort.

But the original collaborators were an oddball mix of an economist, a physicist, a biochemist, an institutional index manager, an ex-commodities trader and a languishing stock exchange seeking to rejuvenate itself. Their ETF product solution was pitched to institutional money managers who were concerned about curtailing risk in the aftermath of the 1987 stock market crash.

The original SPDR ETF made its debut with just $6.5 million in assets. Today, it’s become the globe’s largest ETF with more than $372 billion in assets under management and average daily trading volume of 90 million shares. The nearest ETF to come close to SPDR’s great heights is still an incredible $70 billion behind. The idea of the “first mover advantage” has never rung more true.

“We are excited to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of SPY, which together with the New York Stock Exchange pioneered the development of the ETF industry,” said Douglas Yones, head of exchange-traded products at NYSE. Today, the ETF industry has grown to almost 3,100 funds with $6.5 trillion in assets.

Yet the road to success for ETFs was bumpy and hardly a slam dunk.

“Few if any could have predicted that the launch of the SPDR would eventually lead to an industry revolution that would ultimately challenge the entire mutual fund industry,” said Kevin T. Carter, founder and chief investment officer at EMQQ Global.

In the early days, the SPDR and ETFs like it were accused of being one-trick ponies that seduced investors to become day traders. The Vanguard Group’s founder, John C. Bogle, publicly crusaded against ETFs, arguing, “An ETF is like handing an arsonist a match.”

During the financial crisis in 2008, critics chimed in claiming that ETFs amplified the sharp decline in asset prices.

All along, both investors and financial advisors ignored the noise by pouring more and more money into ETFs. Soon enough, the flamboyant allegations about ETFs proved to be wrong. And as the structural integrity of ETFs became clearer, they gradually morphed into everyday portfolio building blocks.

“ETFs made it easier and more tax efficient for advisors to invest their clients’ money. It’s also allowed them to choose from hundreds of different asset classes and themes that they were unable to easily invest in before the ETF,” added Carter.

What have been among the biggest changes to the ETF industry since the SPDR ETF debuted?

Some industry participants point to the growing shareholder base behind the success of ETFs.

“Once upon a time, ETFs were used by a small subset of investors and now we see everyone from RIAs to pensions to retail investors—and everyone in between—using them in a myriad of ways,” said Paul Baiocchi, CFA and chief ETF strategist at SS&C ALPS Advisors.

What comes next for the ETF industry?

Baiocchi says he sees “continued displacement of mutual fund assets and a wave of conversions from SMAs and mutual funds into ETFs.” You can add the insertion of ETFs inside workplace retirement plans like the popular 401(k) to the list of coming, dramatic changes yet ahead.

Put another way, the next 30 years for the ETF industry will be reasonably different from the first.