Fall of Constantinople: Quick Facts

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Facts

Date	May 29, 1453
Location	Turkey
Participants	Byzantine Empire • Ottoman Empire

Photos

Map showing the changing boundaries of the Byzantine Empire around the eastern Mediterranean. Three areas are marked: the largest outline shows the empire's greatest extent under Justinian I (527-565), a medium pink area shows the empire in about 1020, and a smaller red area shows the empire in about 1360. Key regions include Asia Minor, Greece, the Balkans, and parts of Italy, North Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean coast, with Constantinople marked as the capital.

This map shows the territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire from 1300 to its greatest extent in 1683-99, highlighting different periods under rulers such as Mehmed II, Selim I, and Süleyman the Magnificent, and marking key cities, seas, and geographical boundaries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Stone walls and round towers of Rumelihisari Fort rise above dense green trees along the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, with cars and water in the foreground.

Istanbul: Hagia Sophia

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Topics

Byzantine Empire Istanbul

Key People

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Mehmed II

Ottoman sultan

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Constantine XI Palaeologus

Byzantine emperor

D-Day. American soldiers fire rifles, throw grenades and wade ashore on Omaha Beach next to a German bunker during D Day landing. 1 of 5 Allied beachheads est. in Normandy, France. The Normandy Invasion of World War II launched June 6, 1944.

A History of War