The Spanish conquest of the Americas

  • Oct 8, 1325

    The Aztec city ofTenochtitlan

    Aztecs arrive at Lake
    Texcoco and start to
    build the city of
    Tenochtitlan on the
    site.
  • Aug 3, 1492

    Christopher Columbus discovers the americas

    Christopher Columbus discovers the americas
  • Period: Oct 12, 1492 to Dec 31, 1572

    The Spanish conquest of the Americas

  • Oct 8, 1519

    Hernán Cortés

    Hernán Cortés
    arrives in the Aztec
    Empire and enters
    Tenochtitlan.
    The Spanish are
    driven out of the city
    by the Aztecs.
  • Oct 8, 1532

    Francisco Pizarro

    Francisco Pizarro
    captures the Inca ruler
    Atahualpa at the Battle
    of Cajamarca. Cuzco
    falls to the Spanish the
    following year.
  • 1428

    Triple alliance formed between the cities of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan. This cements the power of the Aztec Empire.
  • 1520

    The disease smallpox
    sweeps through the
    region that is today
    Mexico, killing 25% of
    the Aztec population.