1502 Moctezuma II ( aka Montezuma ) (1466-1520) assumes Aztec throne

1517 Spanish expedition under Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba (1475-1526) lands on Yucatan coast

1519 Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes (1485-1547) founds Veracruz

1519 Cortes enters Tenochtitlan and captures Moctezuma II ( aka Montezuma )

1520 Moctezuma II ( aka Montezuma ) is killed

1528 Juan de Zumarraga (1468-1548) arrives as bishop of Mexico City and begins native conversion to Catholicism

1718 Franciscan missionaries settle in Texas which is of New Spain

1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero was established which later became famous as the Alamo

1803 Napoleon took Louisiana back from New Spain but sold it to the United States

1810 - Overthrow of the king of Spain by Napoleon

1810 September 16 Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753-1811) preaches his Grito de Dolores, sparking rebellion and the War of Independence

1811 Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla is captured and executed

1821 Spain recognizes Mexican independence with the Treaty of Cordoba

1822 General Augustin de Iturbide assumes control as Emperor of Mexico

1823 General Santa Anna deposes Iturbide, the monarchy fails, and a new constitution creates a federal republic

1829 President Vicente Guerrero abolishes slavery

1829 A Spanish attempt at re-conquest is halted by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1794-1876)

Texas declares its independence

1836 February 23 to March 6 - A band of 189 Texas volunteers defied a Mexican army of thousands for 13 days of siege at the Alamo

1836 April Battle of San Jacinto - General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna is captured by Sam Houston

1846-1848 US-Mexican War

1848 The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo reduces Mexico's territory by half, ceding present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and part of Colorado to the U.S.

1853 Santa Anna agrees to the Gadsden Purchase, ceding a further 48,000 square km (30,000 square mi) to the United States

1863 the French occupy Mexico City and Napoleon III of France appoints Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria (1832-1867) as Emperor of Mexico

1864 Maximilian is executed

1910-1920 Mexican Revolution -- Madero, Huerta, Carranza, Villa and Zapata.