Short answers, pulled from the story.
Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of trade networks stretching 900 kilometres across the Mediterranean region as early as 12,000 BCE. These ancient routes moved obsidian from Anatolia to the Levant and Egypt.
The Phoenicians established trading colonies known as emporia along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. They sailed as far north as Britain to secure tin for bronze manufacturing.
Austronesian peoples established trade routes with Southern India and Sri Lanka as early as 1500 BC. They exchanged catamarans, outrigger boats, coconuts, sandalwood, bananas, and sugarcane.
Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498 after sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. He pioneered the European spice trade that had previously been controlled by Islamic powers in Egypt.
The World Trade Organization was created on the 1st of January 1995 to facilitate free trade. It mandated mutual most favored nation trading status between all signatories.