Short answers, pulled from the story.
Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the fortepiano around 1700 under patronage from the Medici family in Florence. The first surviving examples of his work date from the 1720s and now rest in museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Cristofori's original design lacked any metal frame or bracing found in later models. Later examples from the early nineteenth century began evolving toward heavier construction methods with iron frames for greater volume.
No commercial market existed for music written specifically for the instrument until the 1760s. Lodovico Giustini published Sonate da cimbalo di piano in 1732 as an isolated event honoring royal patrons rather than selling to the public.
The range expanded gradually from four octaves at invention to five octaves for Mozart and finally six and a half octaves for Beethoven's last compositions. Modern pianos attained seven octaves by the nineteenth century.
Philip Belt spent two years working as an apprentice for Frank Hubbard while learning harpsichord construction techniques before recreating early piano designs starting in the 1970s. Margaret F. Hood Rodney Regier Chris Maene and Paul McNulty joined him in building replicas based on surviving originals.