Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Talmud emerged from oral traditions that circulated for centuries before being written down between the third and sixth centuries. Modern scholars suggest the redaction likely occurred in the middle of the sixth century rather than earlier.
Rav Ashi presided over the Sura Academy from 375 to 427 CE and began compiling the text. Ravina II completed the project after him, with his death traditionally marking the end of instruction around 475 CE.
The Jerusalem Talmud uses Jewish Palestinian Aramaic while the Babylonian Talmud employs Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. The Babylonian Talmud contains about 2.5 million words compared to the fragmentary state of the Jerusalem text and became the more extensive and authoritative version.
Menachem Romm of Vilna printed a new edition known as the Vilna Edition Shas starting in 1835 after disputes with the Szapira family. This edition has been used in production of more recent versions.
The first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud was printed in Venice by Daniel Bomberg between 1520 and 1523 with support from Pope Leo X.