Human evolution began with the split between early hominins and other African apes around six million years ago. The genus *Homo* emerged roughly 2.5 million years ago, characterised by increasing brain size and tool use. *Homo sapiens* appeared about 300,000 years ago in Africa - wikipedia 
Humans developed symbolic communication, language, art and complex technologies. Through migration and adaptation, we spread across the planet. Modern societies, agriculture, cities and global civilisation represent the most recent chapter in the four-billion-year story of life’s gradual ascent.