1453

The year 1453 is significant because it marked the fall of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, to the Ottoman Turks. This event ended over a thousand years of Byzantine rule and is often seen as a turning point that signaled the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. The conquest also shifted power in the region, opening new trade routes and influencing European exploration. It remains a key moment in world history, symbolizing the decline of medieval Europe's eastern empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire.