Trade Triad An Atlas of Trade Through Time

The Full Timeline of Trade

Over a hundred events spanning early exchange networks to today's global logistics. Combine filters, search, and switch between chronological and card views.

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8 events found

Globalization

1994

Amazon Launches As An Online Retailer

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, initially as an online bookseller operating out of Seattle. The company expanded rapidly as the World Wide Web became commercially available, bu…

Seattle, Washington, United States · The Americas

1995

Founding Of The World Trade Organization

On January 1, 1995, the World Trade Organization succeeded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade as the principal international body overseeing global trade rules. It establi…

Geneva, Switzerland · Global & Transoceanic

c. 1990s-2004

Former Eastern Bloc Economies Join Global Trade

Following the collapse of the Soviet-led economic bloc around 1989-1991, Central and Eastern European states began dismantling centrally planned trade systems and reorienting towa…

Central and Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic) · Europe

1999

Alibaba Group Founded In China

Jack Ma and a group of co-founders established Alibaba in Hangzhou in 1999 to connect Chinese manufacturers and wholesalers with buyers worldwide through an online business-to-bus…

Hangzhou, China · East Asia

c. 1990s-2000s

India's IT And Services Outsourcing Boom

Economic liberalization in India beginning in 1991, combined with the spread of internet connectivity, enabled Indian firms to provide software development, business process outso…

Bangalore and other Indian technology centers · South Asia

c. 1990s-2010s

Shenzhen Rises As A Global Electronics Hub

Following China's market reforms and its 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization, the city of Shenzhen and the surrounding Pearl River Delta grew into one of the world's mo…

Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta, China · East Asia

2007

M-Pesa Pioneers Mobile Money In Kenya

Launched by mobile operator Safaricom in 2007, M-Pesa allowed users to store, send, and receive money using basic mobile phones, without requiring a traditional bank account. The …

Kenya · Africa

present day

Singapore's Historic Port Role Shapes A Modern Hub

Singapore's position along the Strait of Malacca has made it a trading entrepot for centuries, a role formalized under British colonial administration in the nineteenth century an…

Singapore, Strait of Malacca · Southeast Asia