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The Ottoman Empire captures Constantinople. Europeans lose access to traditional trade routes to Asia. -
Caravel ships, magnetic compass, astrolabe, improved maps.
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Aztecs (1325–1521): Capital at Tenochtitlan; advanced engineering, chinampas, aqueducts, 200,000 inhabitants. Maya (2000 BCE–1500 CE): Advanced writing, astronomy, mathematics (including zero). Inca (1438–1533): 25,000 miles of roads, terrace farming, Machu Picchu. -
Horses, cattle, pigs, wheat → to the Americas Maize, potatoes, tomatoes, cacao → to Europe Up to 80–95% indigenous population decline due to disease -
October 12, 1492: Columbus lands in the Bahamas. Believes he reached Asia. First lasting contact between Europeans and the Americas. -
Explores the Caribbean, Central America, and parts of South America. Importance: Opens the way for European colonization.
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1519 Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico with 600 men. 1521 Fall of Tenochtitlan; New Spain established. Importance: Destruction of the Aztec Empire; beginning of Spanish rule in Mexico. -
Francisco Pizarro captures and kills Atahualpa. 1533: Fall of the Inca Empire. Importance: Spain gains control of the rich Andean region and its silver mines. -
Attempt to protect indigenous peoples from abuses. Influenced by Bartolomé de las Casas. Importance: Early (though limited) efforts at indigenous rights reform.