5213 AM · 1453 CE · world history
The Fall of Constantinople
The Ottomans take the Byzantine capital, and a thousand-year empire ends.
Mehmed II brings enormous cannon cast for the siege and drags ships overland into the Golden Horn. After six weeks the city falls and the last emperor dies fighting. Hagia Sophia becomes a mosque. Greek scholars flee to Italy with manuscripts, and Europe begins looking for a sea route east.