The world's oldest surviving bank was founded in Siena in 1472, twenty years before Columbus sailed.
Monte dei Paschi began as a pawnshop meant to protect townspeople from usurers.
More amazing facts
- 1469 · 1498 A merchant from Tver reached India almost 30 years before Vasco da Gama.
- 1470 Chan Chan, capital of Chimor, is the largest city ever built of adobe.
- 1472 Ivan III's bride was married to him by proxy in St Peter's, Rome.
- 1480 · 1492 The Horde's rule over Rus' ended with the Great Stand on the Ugra in 1480 — only 12 years before Columbus reached the Americas.
- 1480 · 1492 Rus threw off the Horde in 1480 and Spain completed the Reconquista in 1492: two centuries-long struggles ended almost together.
- 1482 In his letter to the Duke of Milan, Leonardo da Vinci mentioned painting only at the very end. Around 1482 he offered Ludovico Sforza bridges, cannons and siege engines, and art "in time of peace".