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Article printed from World Book INFORMATION FINDER. WORLD, HISTORY OF THE (Introduction) WORLD, HISTORY OF THE. People have probably lived on the earth about 2 million years. But the story of world history begins only about 5,500 years ago with the invention of w ....

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.... and the course of other important events. The history of the world--from the first civilizations to the present--is based largely on what has been written down by peoples through the ages. The development of agriculture about 9,000 B.C. brought about a great revolution in human life. Prehistoric people who learned to farm no longer had to roam in search of food. Instead, they could settle in one place. Some of their settlements grew to become the world's first cities. People in the cities learned new skills and developed specialized occupations. Some became builders and craftworkers. Others became merchants and priests. Eventually, sy ....