Renaissance · North America · War
1521
Tenochtitlan Falls
August 13, 1521
After a ninety-three-day siege, Spanish brigantines and Tlaxcalan canoes reduced Tenochtitlan to rubble block by block. Smallpox raced through the defenders. The last Mexica emperor, Cuauhtemoc, surrendered in a canoe. Cortes walked through a city of unburied dead and founded Mexico City on the ruins. The destruction was so complete that the capital was buried beneath colonial Mexico City, its ruins discovered only during modern construction.
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In context
Also in 1521 (5 other events on record)
- Luther at the Diet of Worms · Europe · Religion
- Magellan Killed on Mactan · Southeast Asia · Exploration
- Belgrade Falls to Suleiman · Europe · War
- Portuguese Introduce Maize to China · East Asia · Technology
- Cortes Recruits Tlaxcalan Allies · North America · War
Before and after in North America
Before and after in War
Era
Renaissance (1501–1650), one of 715 events from that era on Saeculum.