Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first stable settlements on the site date to the 8th century BC when the Oscans founded five villages in the area. The settlement merged into a single community by the early 6th century BC and was surrounded by a tufa city wall known as the pappamonte wall.
The Greek city of Cumae, allied with Syracuse, defeated the Etruscans at the Battle of Cumae in 474 BC. This victory allowed them to gain control of the area that included Pompeii before the Samnites conquered Greek Cumae between 423 and 420 BC.
A severe earthquake caused considerable damage around the bay and particularly to Pompeii on the 5th of February 62. It is believed that the earthquake registered between 5 and 6 on the Richter magnitude scale and triggered chaos including fires from fallen oil lamps.
On the 20th of August 1763 an inscription Rei Publicae Pompeianorum was found which identified the city as Pompeii. Karl Weber directed the first scientific excavations following this discovery while Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge in 1863.
There were at least 31 bakeries in the town each with wood-burning ovens millstones and a sales counter. The Modestus bakery or House of the Oven was the largest in the city and Sotericus's bakery also among the largest preserves the room for kneading bread.