In 4th-century BCE Athenian democracy, the vast majority of public offices, the 500 members of the Council and the jurors of the courts were all picked by lot. For jurors, Athenians used a kleroterion: a stone slab with rows of slots where each citizen inserted his name ticket, plus a tube that released black or white dice. Generals, however, were still elected: war was not left to chance.
Around 2300 BCE, Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, became high priestess of the Moon god at Ur. She composed hymns to the goddess Inanna and put her name to them. She is the oldest person identified as the author of a literary work, about 1,500 years before Homer.
Squeeze Earth's 4.5 billion years into a single 24-hour day. Homo sapiens shows up around 11:59:54 p.m., roughly six seconds before midnight. All of written history, from Sumerian tablets to today, fits into the final tenth of a second. A cosmic blink.