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 adm…
An Editorial Atlas of Global Trade
How trade routes wove the world together
Trade Triad traces the networks of exchange — goods, technologies, and ideas — that linked societies across continents and centuries, from prehistoric barter to today's global supply chains.
Eras of Exchange
Eight chapters in the history of trade
Every event and article on Trade Triad is organized into one of eight broad periods, from the earliest barter networks to today's digital marketplaces.
From the Timeline
Recently added events
A sample of entries from the full interactive timeline.
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 re…
c. 2003-2005
RFID Mandates in Retail and Defense Supply Chains
In the early 2000s, Walmart and the United States Department of Defense required major suppliers to attach radio-frequency identification (…
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 Riv…
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 soft…
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 wor…
Article Library
Long-form reads on trade history
Thirty in-depth articles covering the people, goods, and infrastructure that built global commerce.
Maritime Expansion
The Maritime Routes of Southeast Asia
Monsoon winds and narrow straits turned Southeast Asia into a commercial crossroads linking India and China, shaping global trade routes for well over a thousand years.
Ancient Trade
The Silk Roads and the Movement of Goods and Ideas
The overland and maritime routes known collectively as the Silk Roads carried silk, spices, and metals, but also religions, technologies, and diseases across continents.
Maritime Expansion
Mercantilism and the Politics of Early Modern Trade
A look at mercantilism, the economic philosophy of tariffs, bullion, and state control that shaped European trade policy for roughly three centuries.
Our Approach
Evidence over legend
We separate documented history from hypothesis, credit multiple societies rather than single "discoverers," and cite museums, universities, and archives rather than inventing sources. Read more in our Sources & Methodology and Editorial Policy.