Chilean president Salvador Allende dies in coup
Chile’s armed forces stage a coup d’état against the government of President Salvador Allende, the first democratically elected Marxist leader in Latin America. Allende retreated with his supporters to...
View ArticleArgentina invades Falklands
On April 2, 1982, Argentina invades the Falklands Islands, a British colony since 1892 and British possession since 1833. Argentine amphibious forces rapidly overcame the small garrison of British...
View ArticleCastro sworn in
On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro is sworn in as prime minister of Cuba after leading a guerrilla campaign that forced right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista into exile. Castro, who became commander in...
View ArticleChe Guevara captured by Bolivian army
A Bolivian guerrilla force led by Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara is defeated in a skirmish with a special detachment of the Bolivian army. Guevara was wounded, captured and executed the next...
View ArticleHaitian independence proclaimed
Two months after his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte’s colonial forces, Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaims the independence of Saint-Domingue, renaming it Haiti after its original Arawak name.In 1791, a...
View ArticleIsabel Peron takes office as Argentine president
With Argentine President Juan Peron on his deathbed, Isabel Martinez de Peron, his wife and vice president, is sworn in as the leader of the South American country. President Isabel Peron, a former...
View ArticleU.S. agrees to transfer Panama Canal to Panama
In Washington, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos sign a treaty agreeing to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama at the end of the 20th...
View ArticlePeron deposed in Argentina
After a decade of rule, Argentine President Juan Domingo Peron is deposed in a military coup. Peron, a demagogue who came to power in 1946 with the backing of the working classes, became increasingly...
View ArticlePeron elected in Argentina
Juan Domingo Peron, the controversial former vice president of Argentina, is elected president.In 1943, as an army officer, he joined a military coup against Argentina’s ineffectual civilian...
View ArticleThe U.S. invades Panama
The United States invades Panama in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges and was accused of suppressing...
View ArticlePanama declares independence
With the support of the U.S. government, Panama issues a declaration of independence from Colombia. The revolution was engineered by a Panamanian faction backed by the Panama Canal Company, a...
View ArticleFalklands War ends
After suffering through six weeks of military defeats against Britain’s armed forces, Argentina surrenders to Great Britain, ending the Falklands War.The Falkland Islands, located about 300 miles off...
View ArticleFidel Castro born
Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro is born in the Oriente province of eastern Cuba. The son of a Spanish immigrant who had made a fortune building rail systems to transport sugar cane, Fidel attended...
View ArticleChilean miners are rescued after 69 days underground
On October 13, 2010, the last of 33 miners trapped nearly half a mile underground for more than two months at a caved-in mine in northern Chile, are rescued. The miners survived longer than anyone else...
View ArticleRevolutionary leader José de San Martín routs Spanish forces in Chile
In the early hours of February 12, 1817, Argentine revolutionary José de San Martín leads his troops down the slopes of the Andes Mountains towards the Spanish forces defending Chile. By nightfall, the...
View ArticleFidel Castro arrives in Havana after deposing Batista's regime
On January 8, 1959, a triumphant Fidel Castro enters Havana, having deposed the American-backed regime of General Fulgencio Batista. Castro's arrival in the Cuban capital marked a definitive victory...
View ArticleUruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes
On the afternoon of October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 begins its descent toward Santiago, Chile, too early and crashes high in the Andes Mountains. After more than two unthinkably...
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Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed uprising led by Fidel Castro that eventually toppled the brutal dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista by 1959.The Cuban Revolution was an armed uprising led by Fidel...
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Nayarit
Nayarit’s farmers benefit from its location in a fertile valley, and with 181 miles of coastline, the state is a top tourist destination. Tourism and other service industries account for about 24...
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Nuevo León
Situated on the border between Mexico and the United States, Nuevo León is famous for its adventure sports- including rock climbing and rappelling – but most of the state’s revenue comes from its...
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Oaxaca
During his conquest of Mexico, Hernán Cortés declared himself the Marqués del Valle of Oaxaca, claiming province over the state’s rich mineral deposits. Today, Oaxaca has become a top tourist...
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Puebla
Owing to the region’s rich volcanic soils and strategic location, Náhuatl-speaking Indians once developed a complex civilization in Puebla; today, many monumental ruins can be found throughout the...
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Querétaro
Mexicans first declared their independence in Querétaro, one of Mexico’s smallest states. Today, Querétaro’s major cities are home to industrial complexes that produce metal goods, machinery, chemicals...
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San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí, which has some of the richest silver mines in Mexico, is also where Gonzales Bocanegra wrote the Mexican national anthem in 1854.History Early History While scant information exists on...
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Sinaloa
Sinaloa is the only place in Mexico where the ancient ball game called ulama is still played. It’s also the home of banda music, damiana, a popular herb–based liquor, boxer Julio Cesar Chavez and...
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Sonora
Sonora, the second largest state in Mexico, is sparsely populated. Mountainous and arid, the region is sunny almost year–round and has little rainfall. Nearly all of Mexico’s copper is produced here....
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Tabasco
This low, flat state still has a large indigenous population that lives primarily in rural areas. Contrary to popular belief, Tabasco was not named after the spicy peppers of the same name, though the...
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Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas is home to Tampico, one of the country’s first ports, as well as many major theater groups. Agriculture, fishing, and tourism are the state’s primary economic activities, although...
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Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala, Mexico’s smallest state, was once home to the ancient Olmeca–Xicalanca civilization. Tlaxcala is home to three famous bullrings. The most popular is the Jorge “El Ranchero” Aguilar plaza,...
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Veracruz
Hernán Cortés founded the city of Veracruz while searching for gold in the region. Today, the state is famous for its beautiful beaches and Carnaval, an annual celebration featuring music, dance and...
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Yucatán
Mayans flourished and established one of their greatest cities, Chichén Itzá, in what is now Yucatán. Because it was relatively isolated from the rest of Mexico until recently, the state developed its...
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Zacatecas
La Toma de Zacatecas (The Taking of Zacatecas) wasthe largest and bloodiest battle of the Mexican Revolution. Once a center for silver mining, Zacatecas has earned a reputation as an agricultural...
View ArticleMexico Timeline
From the stone cities of the Maya to the might of the Aztecs, from its conquest by Spain to its rise as a modern nation, Mexico boasts a rich history and cultural heritage spanning more than 10,000...
View ArticleMexican constitution proclaimed
After seven years of revolution and civil upheaval, Mexican President Venustiano Carranza proclaims the modern Mexican constitution, which promises the restoration of lands to native peoples, the...
View ArticleU.S. General John J. Pershing attacked by Mexican troops
The controversial U.S. military expedition against Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa brings the United States and Mexico closer to war when Mexican government troops attack U.S. Brigadier General John...
View ArticleSouthern U.S. border established
James Gadsden, the U.S. minister to Mexico, and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, sign the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City. The treaty settled the dispute over the location...
View ArticleSpain accepts Mexican independence
Eleven years after the outbreak of the Mexican War of Independence, Spanish Viceroy Juan de O’Donojú signs the Treaty of Córdoba, which approves a plan to make Mexico an independent constitutional...
View ArticleOutnumbered Mexican army defeats French at Battle of Puebla
During the French-Mexican War (1861-1867), an outnumbered Mexican army defeats a powerful invading French force at Puebla. The retreat of the French troops at the Battle of Puebla represented a great...
View ArticleTexas militia routs Mexicans in the Battle of San Jacinto
During the Texan War for Independence, the Texas militia under Sam Houston launches a surprise attack against the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna along the San Jacinto River. The Mexicans were...
View ArticleMexican War of Independence begins
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest, launches the Mexican War of Independence with the issuing of his Grito de Dolores, or “Cry of Dolores.” The revolutionary tract, so-named because it was...
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The Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo during Texas’ war for independence from Mexico lasted thirteen days, from February 23, 1836-March 6, 1836. In December of 1835, a group of Texan volunteer soldiers had occupied...
View ArticleRevolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata assassinated in Mexico
Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and Indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, is ambushed and shot to death in Morelos by government forces.Born a peasant in 1879, Zapata was forced into...
View ArticleLeading Mexican presidential candidate assassinated
Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexico’s ruling party’s presidential candidate, is gunned down during a campaign rally in the northern border town of Tijuana.As a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
View ArticleStruggle for Mexican Independence
On September 16, 1810, a progressive priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla became the father of Mexican independence with a historic proclamation urging his fellow Mexicans to take up arms against the...
View ArticleRussian revolutionary Leon Trotsky assassinated in Mexico
Exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded by an ice-ax-wielding assassin at his compound outside Mexico City. The killer—Ramón Mercader—was a Spanish communist and probable agent of...
View ArticleDeconstructing History: Alamo
It has become the site and symbol of the battle for Texan independence, but there is much more to the story. Find out why Americans will always remember the Alamo.
View ArticleAsk HISTORY: What does it mean to "draw a line in the sand"?
Where does this common expression come from? Get the full story.
View ArticleStruggle for Mexican Independence
8 U.S. states exist on land that used to belong to Mexico. Learn more about Mexico's history!
View ArticleHow an Exile Brought Chewing Gum to America
Everyone loves chewing gum! And the reason this treat is so popular in America is all thanks to an exiled Mexican President.Everyone loves chewing gum! And the reason this treat is so popular in...
View ArticlePancho Villa & The Mexican Revolution
Learn more about the history of Pancho Villa & The Mexican Revolution.Learn more about the history of Pancho Villa & The Mexican Revolution.
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