Bearers of the Lapita culture, known for their dentate-stamped pottery, settled islands from the Bismarck Archipelago to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, laying the foundations of Polynesian societies.
The Nok culture flourished in present-day central Nigeria, known for its terracotta sculptures and as one of the earliest iron-smelting cultures in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Olmecs develop the earliest known complex civilization of Mesoamerica along Mexico's Gulf Coast, known for their colossal stone heads.
A Bronze Age and early Iron Age culture of the Red River valley and north-central Vietnam, famous for its bronze drums.
Nebuchadnezzar II's forces take Jerusalem, destroy Solomon's Temple and deport many Judeans to Babylon.
Confucius, founder of Confucianism, is born in the state of Lu; his teachings shape East Asian culture for over two millennia.
Cyrus II defeats the Median king Astyages, laying the foundation of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the largest empire of its time.
Cyrus the Great takes Babylon, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire; he later allows exiled Judeans to return to Judah.
Darius I takes the throne, organising the empire into satrapies and building Persepolis and the Royal Road.
Traditionally, the Romans expel King Tarquin the Proud and establish a republic led by elected consuls.
Cleisthenes reorganizes Athenian citizens into new tribes and broadens political participation, often seen as the birth of Athenian democracy.