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Jun 7, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas is signed, dividing newly discovered overseas lands between Portugal and Spain. -
1507
America Named
Geographer Martin Waldseemüler is first to use the name "America" to refer to newly-discovered continents, after Italian merchant, explorer, and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. Columbus loses out on lucrative naming rights. -
1507
America Named
Geographer Martin Waldseemüler is first to use the name "America" to refer to newly-discovered continents, after Italian merchant, explorer, and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. Columbus loses out on lucrative naming rights. -
1513
Balboa Reaches Pacific
Vasco Nuñez de Balboa becomes the first European to gaze upon the Pacific Ocean after cutting his way across the Isthmus of Panama. -
Period: 1519 to
New Spain - Today
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Period: 1519 to 1521
Magellan Circumnavigates Globe
Ferdinand Magellan's ships are the first to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan himself is killed by natives in the Pacific. -
Period: 1519 to 1521
Cortes Conquers Aztecs
Cortés and his men conquer the entire Aztec Empire in what will later become Mexico. -
Nov 8, 1519
Cortes Captures Tenochtitlan
Fall of Tenochtitlan: Hernán Cortés and approximately 100 Spaniards capture the capital of the Aztec Empire. -
Jun 30, 1520
Night of Tears
La Noche Triste: The "Night of Tears" in which almost two thirds of Cortés' men—nearly 800 in total—are killed as they try to escape Tenochtitlan after the death of Moctezuma. -
1531
Virgin of Guadalupe
Juan Diego, a Mexican peasant, has an apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Before long, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe becomes the patron saint of the New World. -
1532
Pizarro Invades Peru
Francisco Pizarro invades the Incan Empire and begins the conquest of Peru. -
1545
Silver Discovered
Silver is discovered at Potosí in Bolivia. Spain begins to reap huge financial rewards from its New World colonies. -
Period: 1550 to 1551
Native American Rights Debated
Bartolomé de Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda debate the rights of Native Americans in the New World in Valladolid, Spain. -
Santa Fe Founded
Santa Fe, the capital of present-day New Mexico, is founded. -
Pueblo Indians Revolt
It takes 12 years of fighting for the Spanish to subdue the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico. -
Spanish War of Independence
Madrid rises against Napoleon's occupying troops, beginning the Spanish War of Independence. Spanish colonies in South America use the opportunity to start agitating for independence themselves. -
Mexican Independence
Mexico is founded with a Republican Constitution. Spanish rule in North America comes to an end.
