Who Was Alive

Were Mehmed II and Christopher Columbus alive at the same time?

Yes. Mehmed II and Christopher Columbus were alive at the same time for 29 or 30 years, from 1451 to 1481.

Mehmed II was 18 or 19 when Christopher Columbus was born.

Christopher Columbus was 29 or 30 when Mehmed II died, aged 49.

Mehmed II

Seventh Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

Born 30 March 1432 · died 3 May 1481, aged 49

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator, explorer, and colonist

Born 1451 · died 20 May 1506, aged 54 or 55

  1. Mehmed II
  2. Christopher Columbus
  3. Leonardo da Vinci
  4. Niccolò Machiavelli
  5. Nicolaus Copernicus
  6. Michelangelo
  7. Martin Luther
Mehmed II and Christopher Columbus in bold, with some of their best-known contemporaries. Drag across to see the age each reached in any year. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.