In 1513, Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, Balboa was the first European to stand on new world soil and behold the Pacific Ocean, a de Medici was named Pope, and as an interesting note on dark political intrigue, Niccolò Machiavelli was banished from Florence by the House of Medici and then wrote The Prince.

So?

Why parade stuff from five hundred years ago? When there was no GPS, and ocean going vessels were all wood and moved by a combination of steering and which way the Gulf Stream flowed and the winds blew?

What's the point?

No point, really, except to put that number of years into some form of perspective in order to evaluate this.

And, in terms who ends up chump of last resort once the productive ore's depleted, never mind half a millenium, but more near term, guess.

What's the cliche, "Learn from history, or ..."?

__________UPDATE___________
For anyone wanting a link, a google = major events, 1513

gave the first three hits here, here, and here, yielding the headlined historical listing.