Wanderlust World Wanderlust World - 1500 BCE - 1000 BCE: Olmec civilization begins in the Gulf Coast region.
- 300 BCE - 200 CE: Teotihuacan civilization becomes the largest city in the Americas.
- 250 CE - 900 CE: Maya civilization flourishes in the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America.
- 600 CE - 900 CE: Zapotec civilization develops in the Oaxaca Valley.
- 750 CE - 1000 CE: Toltec civilization emerges in the central highlands of Mexico.
Arrival of the Europeans
- 1519: Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico and begins the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
- 1521: Cortés defeats the Aztecs and establishes Spanish rule in Mexico.
New Spain
- 1521-1821: Mexico is a colony of Spain known as New Spain.
- 1535: Viceroyalty of New Spain is established.
- 1697: The Spanish establish a permanent settlement at San Antonio, Texas.
- 1762-1763: The British invade and briefly occupy Havana.
- 1767: The Spanish expel the Jesuits from New Spain.
- 1810-1821: Mexican War of Independence
Independent Mexico
- 1821: Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
- 1824: Mexico becomes a federal republic.
- 1836: Texas declares independence from Mexico.
- 1846-1848: Mexican-American War.
- 1854: Gadsden Purchase.
- 1857: Mexican Civil War
- 1861: French intervention in Mexico.
- 1865: Archduke Maximilian of Austria is crowned Emperor of Mexico.