<p>Over the last two centuries, the international financial system has undergone significant developments, with key historical events shaping financial markets and economies worldwide. We offer a new long-term perspective on international financial market integration using a flexible dynamic panel approach that accommodates heterogeneous slope coefficients while accounting for cross-country dependence. Our analysis uncovers several interesting findings. For real long-term interest rates, we observe a distinct U-shaped pattern. In contrast, the integration of global financial markets for equities has significantly increased in recent years. Additionally, long-term nominal interest rates and bond markets have become considerably more integrated since the Bretton Woods era, exhibiting a J-shaped pattern throughout the period under study.</p>