One of the great turning points of human history. For Europe it meant more than two centuries of conflict with the Ottoman Empire. For the Eastern Empire it meant extinction and for most of the Balkan Christian kingdoms it meant endless war and eventual rule by the Ottomans or the Holy Roman Empire. It gave the impetus to the life long search by Columbus for a Western route to Asia, and to the Portuguese, who started their explorations prior to the fall of Constantinople, the route to India via around Africa. If Constantinople had never fallen, so much of our history would be different.
