Middle Ages
Fall of Acre (1291): The End of the Crusader Kingdom
Mamluk victory; Acre was taken and destroyed, and the last crusader cities on the mainland fell within months.
Region
Middle East
Middle Ages
Osman I and the Founding of the Ottoman State (c. 1299)
Osman founded a frontier principality that his successors expanded into the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until 1922.
Middle Ages
Mansa Musa's Hajj (1324): Mali's Gold Pilgrimage to Mecca
Mansa Musa's lavish pilgrimage made Mali famous across the Islamic world and Europe and brought scholars and an architect back to West Africa.
Middle Ages
Black Death (1346–1353): The Plague That Ravaged Europe
An estimated 30–60% of Europe's population died, causing deep social, economic and religious change.
Middle Ages
Janissaries: Origins of the Ottoman Elite Infantry (c. 1363)
The Ottomans gained Europe's first permanent, salaried standing infantry, which became the core of their armies for over four centuries.
Middle Ages
Battle of Ankara (1402): Timur Defeats Sultan Bayezid I
Decisive Timurid victory; Bayezid I was captured and the Ottoman state fell into a decade of civil war.
Middle Ages
Fall of Constantinople (1453): End of the Byzantine Empire
Ottoman victory; Constantinople was captured, the Byzantine Empire ended and the city became the Ottoman capital.
Early Modern
Shah Ismail I and the Founding of the Safavid Empire (1501)
Ismail became shah at Tabriz, founded the Safavid dynasty and made Twelver Shi'ism the official religion of Iran.
Early Modern
Battle of Chaldiran (1514): Ottoman Guns Defeat Shah Ismail
Decisive Ottoman victory; Selim briefly occupied Tabriz and the Ottomans went on to annex most of eastern Anatolia.
Early Modern
Ottoman Conquest of Egypt (1517): Selim I Ends the Mamluks
The Mamluk Sultanate was destroyed; Syria, Egypt and the Hejaz became Ottoman provinces.
Early Modern
Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana): From Captive to Ottoman Empress
Hürrem became Suleiman's legal wife and political partner, the mother of Selim II and a major founder of charitable institutions.
Early Modern
Suleiman the Magnificent: The Ottoman Empire at Its Zenith
The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest power and prestige, expanding into Hungary, Iraq and North Africa and dominating the Mediterranean.