1453HistoryInnovation
The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 and Its Consequences
29 May 1453: Mehmed II takes Constantinople. The siege, the stakes, then what followed: a tolled Bosphorus, a Europe seeking a way round, contested straits.
11 min
History · Innovation · Economics
Every event has consequences.
The fall of a city, a discovery, an invention: we tell each turning point in history on its own terms, then follow what it set in motion, in the short, medium and long term.
Our method
The thread
From the fall of Constantinople to the discovery of the Americas, from the Library of Alexandria to the telegraph: every article follows the same chain of causes and consequences.
The event
What happened, who, where, and what was at stake. A battle, a founding, a discovery or an invention.
Why it mattered
Why this moment weighed more than others on what came next in human history.
What followed
In the short, medium and long term, each link caused by the one before. The last consequence opens the next topic.
Season 1
From Alexander to the telegraph
Twenty-two turning points, each a consequence of the one before.
334 BC
Alexander the Great: the man who set the world's money in motion · coming soon
300 BC
The founding of Alexandria and its Library · coming soon
27 BC
Augustus ends the Republic: the birth of the Roman Empire · coming soon
330
Constantine founds Constantinople · coming soon
762
Baghdad is founded and the House of Wisdom opens · coming soon
1024
Song China prints the world's first paper money · coming soon
1202
Fibonacci brings Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe · coming soon
1397
The Medici Bank opens in Florence · coming soon
1453
The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 and Its Consequences1492
Columbus reaches the Americas · coming soon
1498
Vasco da Gama reaches India by sea · coming soon
1492–1600
The Columbian Exchange: two worlds collide · coming soon
1545
The silver mountain of Potosí is discovered · coming soon
1557
Philip II's empire goes bankrupt · coming soon
1565
The first Manila galleon crosses the Pacific · coming soon
1602
The Dutch East India Company is founded · coming soon
1637
Tulip mania: the crash of 1637 · coming soon
1694
The Bank of England is founded · coming soon
1720
The South Sea and Mississippi bubbles burst · coming soon
1769
Watt's steam engine · coming soon
1845
Railway Mania grips Britain · coming soon
1858
The first transatlantic telegraph cable · coming soon