What was one of the most important steps in the evolution of early
living things?

the development of the enzyme Rubisco and evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis.

Explanation: One can pick many key steps in early evolution: the development of the first cells, oxygenic photosynthesis, endosymbiosis leading to eukaryote organisms.

One important step was the mutation to the enzyme ribulose bisphospate carboxylase oxygenase (Rubisco) which enabled oxygenic photosynthesis.

The cyanobacteria that had Rubisco changed the planet’s atmosphere by producing oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis. They were the most successful organisms of the time and have continued as a successful and ubiquitous group of organisms for billions of years.

The production of oxygen changed the direction of evolution profoundly. Later endosymbiosis led to the evolution of plants, with cyanobacteria the ancestors of chloroplasts, making Rubisco one of the most common enzymes on the planet.

post-impressionism is a predominantly french art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last impressionist exhibition to the birth of fauvism. post-impressionism emerged as a reaction against impressionists' concern for the naturalistic depiction of light and colour.

explanation:

the last one: artificial selection/genetic engineering

plant breeding is modifying the genetic composition of the plant - but this isn't cloning (which is specifically introducing a gene into a genome). but you are artificially selecting for the phenotype that you want.

the second one is literally genetic engineering - the gene would have been cloned first and then inserted or genetically engineered into the new plant cell (the cotton).