In the 9th and 10th centuries, Scandinavians sailed down the rivers of today's Russia to trade with the Muslim world, swapping furs and slaves for silver. The Spillings Hoard on the Swedish island of Gotland alone holds more than 14,000 coins, mostly Arab dirhams. Vikings were great traders as well as raiders.
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.