Banding together for protection and to pool their food supplies, small farming settlements developed into growing urban centers in the Fertile Crescent region of the Tigris and Euphrates river valley in Asia Minor.

https://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/fertile-crescent

In the Great Lakes region Native North American cultures extracted copper from gravel beds and quarries for use in tools and weaponry and later, around 1500 BCE, for personal ornamentation. Copper was also traded for a variety of other materials.

https://www.mpm.edu/research-collections/anthropology/online-collections-research/old-copper-culture

The separate cultures of the lower and upper Nile were brought together by a king whom later historians identified as Menes, leading to a dynastic period that lasted almost 2,000 years.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Mene

The Sumerians developed what many believe to be the oldest writing system, cuneiform, consisting of wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets. Their civilization stretched from the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the Persian Gulf.

http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch01.htm

The Sumerians mixed copper and tin to create bronze tools, notably plows.

https://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/bronze-age

Based in the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, this civilization developed a written language based on pictograms, an advanced architecture, and a complex religion.

http://www.allabouthistory.org/indus-valley.htm

2000-1400 B.C.E.
The Minoan civilization

One of the first Aegean civilizations, the Minoans lived on the island of Crete; their language and culture are related to early Egyptian and Fertile Crescent civilizations. Their capital was the city of Knossos.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mino/hd_mino.htm

The Amorite king Hammurabi unified the Mesopotamian city-states and established Babylon as a capital and trade center, but he is most noted for his collection of 282 laws which represented a large step forward towards a formal system of justice.

https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/hammurabi

The Olmecs have been called America's first civilization. Their society arose in Mesoamerica, present-day central and south Mexico and north Central America. They were the first Americans to build large architectural complexes. They developed a system of writing and sophisticated iconography. It has been argued that they were a "mother culture" influencing later Mesoamerican Aztec and Mayan cultures.

http://www.aztec-history.com/olmec-civilization.html

The Mycenaean culture developed on the mainland of Greece. These powerful seafarers developed heavily fortified cities and were antagonists in the Trojan War. They eventually gave way to the Dorians from the north because they lacked the Dorian’s iron technology.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/myce/hd_myce.htm

The first Chinese dynasty, the Shang, built their cities along the Huang He (Yellow) River. Their accomplishments include founding the first capital city; developing a written language, and a calendar based upon the lunar cycles; and developing techniques for working with bronze, silk, and clay.

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/kp_shang.htm

The  Aryans were warrior-shepherds of central Asia who spoke Sanskrit, an Indo-European language. They invaded the Indus Valley (in present-day Pakistan) and enslaved or pushed out Indus natives. Their strict social hierarchy led to a caste system; their religion slowly evolved into Hinduism.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/the-indo-aryan-migration-and-the-vedic-period/

The Ancient Pueblo civilization was located in what is now known as the Four Corners area (southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southern Colorado). Notable features of their civilization were cliff dwellings, pottery, petroglyphs and pictographs, and a road system that may have combined economic and religious purposes.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/
Ancient_Pueblo_Peoples

During his reign, King David of Israel united his kingdom, established the capital at Jerusalem, and conquered the coastal region from Gaza to Phoenicia, ultimately controlling the Euphrates, an expansion that represented the greatest extent of the Israelite empire. (Click the link and scroll down to "V. Israel" for the relevant text.)

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Kingdom_of_Israel

800 B.C.E.
Homer

Homer was a (possibly mythical) blind poet-bard who composed epic poems about Mycenean heroes, the Illiad and the Odyssey, which are considered to be the earliest masterpieces of Greek literature and among the greatest works of literature of all time.

http://www.biography.com/people/homer-9342775

After overthrowing the Etruscan monarchy, the Romans established a government where patricians, or aristocrats, shared power with citizens who could vote; executive and legislative assemblies were established to set policy.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Roman-Republic

Born into a life of luxury, this Indian prince left home and threw away his fortune to seek the truth. As the Buddha, he created a new philosophy and founded a religion; his followers became missionaries and the religion took firm root in east Asia.

Under Pericles, a series of government and financial restructurings made massive public works projects possible in Athens; democracy took root during these reforms, giving nearly one-third of the citizens access to democratic participation. Thinkers such as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, and Herodotus, and playwrights such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes lived during this era.

https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pericles

At the age of 20 Alexander became the ruler of Macedonia and Greece. At the head of a large army combining Greek and Macedonian forces, he crossed to Asia Minor and conquered Persia, Egypt, the Tigris-Euphrates, and eventually the Indus river basin. He died at the age of 33. His conquests helped to introduce eastern ideas to the west, and vice versa.

http://www.history.com/topics/alexander-the-great

Asoka is the most famous of the Mauryan emperors of India's Ganges plain. After engaging in successful wars of conquest, Asoka converted to Buddhism and advocated the peaceful and compassionate spread of his religion.

http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/gallery/photos/6.html

(To read more on Asoka and related information, click the link above and then click “Explore the Topic.”)

The Han created a strong central government and military; their civil service system was based on Confucian idea that ability, not birth, should lead to promotion. Art and trade thrived during this dynasty.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hand/hd_hand.htm

A combination of over-expansion and a wave of invasions by aggressive Germanic tribes weakened Rome. Finally, a mercenary in the service of Rome, the German general Odoacer, deposed the Roman emperor in C.E. 476. This is considered the "official" date for Rome's collapse (although by this time Rome's decline had been taking place over hundreds of years).

https://www.history.com/news/8-reasons-why-rome-fell

In Japan, pro-Chinese nobles sought to centralize the government and bring about reforms to allow officials to advance based upon merit; their reforms divided Japan into easier-to- manage provinces.

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Taika_Reforms

The peoples of the Korean peninsula were united during this period. Silla culture borrowed heavily from the Chinese; Confuciunism was a strong influence.

http://koreanhistory.info/Shilla.htm