Constantinople falls
The last remnant of Rome disappears after 1,500 years
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The fall ended the Eastern Roman Empire and made the Ottomans a European great power for four centuries. The consequences were as much economic as symbolic: control of the eastern land routes gave the Portuguese and Spanish an extra reason to seek a sea route to Asia. At the same time the Greek scholarly diaspora carried manuscripts and language skills to Italy, fertilising the Renaissance. The city became Istanbul and one of the world's great cosmopolitan centres.
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The city had withstood attacks for a thousand years behind its enormous walls. But the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II had something new: cannons big enough to blast holes in the wall. When the city fell, many Greek scholars carried their books to Italy.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org