When was the first piano built?

The first piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1700 in Florence, Italy. He called his invention the "gravicembalo col piano e forte", or "harpsichord with soft and loud", referring to its ability to produce both soft (piano) and loud (forte) sounds. Cristofori's invention featured a mechanism called the "escapement", which allowed for greater control over the volume and dynamics of the sound compared to earlier keyboard instruments.