Literary Hub

15 min read

Marie Arana is a distinguished Latin American author, Peruvian in origin and universal in outlook. I met her years ago at a tribute event to the historian Miguel León Portilla that she had organized at the Library of Congress. I had published a rathe

NPR

1 min read

Some 650 skulls unearthed in Mexico City are believed to be the legendary Huey Tzompantli, a site for victims of human sacrifice first mentioned by Spanish conquistadors.

BBC History Magazine

2 min read

Five hundred years ago, on the night of 30 June 1520, Spanish forces and their allies fled from the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan under attack. Known as La Noche Triste (Night of Sorrows), this shameful retreat marked a key moment in the conquest – o

All About History

2 min read

Author Camilla Townsend Publisher Oxford University Press Price £19.99 Released Out now In 1519, Hernando Cortés entered the Aztec kingdom and met its ruler, Moctezuma. The story of that fateful meeting and what followed is familiar to generations

MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History

1 min read

Spanish conquistadores led by Hernán Cortés (with beard) flee Tenochtitlán, which they have occupied for nearly eight months, after a ferocious battle with Aztec warriors. TODAY: Archaeologists confirm that a large gold ingot found beneath a Mexico C

ARCHAEOLOGY

3 min read

KANSAS: Imaging technology mounted on drones has identified the outline of a previously unknown earthen feature in southeastern Kansas. The 164-foot-diameter monument is likely one of the enigmatic “council circles” built by ancestral Wichita communi

History of War

3 min read

Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Juan de Grijalva lead expeditions to the Yucatán Peninsula and the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Grijalva encounters a delegation of Motecuhzoma II and a Native American joins his expedition. This man is bap

History of War

4 min read

Born at Medellín in Estremadura, Spain, Cortés came from a family of minor nobility. Although he possibly trained as a lawyer at Salamanca he decided to become a soldier. He sailed to Hispaniola in 1506 before moving to Cuba in 1509 to become a gold

The Christian Science Monitor

11 min read

500 years after conquistadors first set foot on Mexican soil, a renewed sense of nationalism is taking root.

History of War

4 min read

In 1515, the Aztec tlatoani, the ‘speaker’ or emperor, Motecuhzoma II was warned that his empire was soon to be “ravaged and destroyed”. Soon after, a series of omens occurred: a foreboding comet, Huitzilopochtli’s temple spontaneously burned to the

MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History

5 min read

By Matthew Restall. 560 pages. HarperCollins Publishers, 2018. $35. Reviewed by Marshall C. Eakin On November 8, 1519, after spending more than six months fighting his way into the heart of Mexico, Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés came face to face w

American History

6 min read

The main office building at the Highlander Education and Research Center in New Market, Tennessee, burned down on March 29, 2019. Highlander, a center for civil rights and social justice, was founded in 1932. Near the ruins was found a white power sy

BBC World Histories Magazine

7 min read

In 1579, a son was born to a well-to-do indigenous family living in the town of Amaquemecan, New Spain (encompassing today’s Mexico). His parents gave him the Christian name Domingo, but he was also sometimes called Chimalpahin, meaning ‘He Ran with

How It Works

1 min read

The remains of an Aztec palace where emperor Moctezuma II was held captive by the Spanish and killed in 1520 has been discovered in Mexico City. Historical records say that the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés took Moctezuma hostage and held him in

NPR

4 min read

The meeting of Aztec Emperor Montezuma II and Hernán Cortés and the events that followed weigh heavily in Mexico half a millennium later.

All About History

1 min read

Of all the contributions the native people have given to modern Mexico, perhaps the most prominent is the country’s name. According to some sources, the native people of what is now known as the Mexican valley or basin emerged from a fertile hill kno

Chicago Tribune

1 min read

GEOQUIZ: Which country lies between Honduras and Costa Rica? Answer: Nicaragua. It’s Central America’s largest country, has coasts on both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean and has roughly 40 volcanoes, some of which are active.

The Atlantic

4 min read

The historian Eric Foner describes how profits from the slave trade helped fund the school formerly named King’s College.

NPR

3 min read

"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free," states General Order No. 3.

Los Angeles Times

3 min read

Scientists have just revealed the climate forecast for the year 2080 in hundreds of cities across North America, and - surprise! - it looks like it's going to get a whole lot warmer in all of them. If humanity continues to emit greenhouse gases at th

Civil War Times

1 min read

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, MOSBY HERITAGE AREA ASSOCIATION I was gifted Michael Beschloss’ The Presidents of War about a year ago and recently dug into it, interested in the book’s treatment of Lincoln. A school of thought suggests Lincoln set the bar fo

Cobblestone

2 min read

$ 10 million for 29,670 square miles of land. That was the result of the Gadsden Purchase of 1854. It was the final sliver of land to be transferred from Mexico to the United States. Looking at a map, it’s not immediately obvious why the land had val

History of War

2 min read

“TRIBAL HATREDS MADE COMMON ACTION AGAINST THE WHITES ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE, EXCEPT IN CERTAIN INSTANCES OF ALLIANCES, LIKE THE POWERFUL SIOUX AND THE CHEYENNE” Author: Page Smith Publisher: Amberley Publishing Price: £20 Released: Out now Page Smith nee

Futurity

2 min read

From games of chance to tests of physical skill, ancient North America Indians took their sport and recreation seriously, research shows. “Games are ubiquitous. Every society seems to have them,” says Barbara Voorhies, a research professor of anthrop

History of War

3 min read

When the conquistadors arrived in Tenochtitlan, they discovered a society founded on an institutionalised cult of death. At the Great Temple, prisoners of war, slaves and even children sent from the provinces were sacrificed to delay the death of the

The Atlantic

2 min read

Archeologists in Mexico City say they’ve discovered part of the long-rumored Huey Tzompantli, a rack of humans skulls believed to measure some 200 feet in diameter. The tower sat on the edge of the Templo Mayor, a temple devoted to the Aztec god of s

Who Do You Think You Are?

1 min read

The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) has launched a digital database that reveals the lives of Londoners of African, Caribbean, Asian and indigenous heritage going back over 400 years. Switching the Lens (bit.ly/LMA-BAME) is the result of work by

Cobblestone

3 min read

When Spanish conquistadores explored the land known today as Mexico in 1519, they were dazzled by its riches. They marveled at the majestic stone buildings that graced the cities of the Aztecs who ruled the area. Beyond the cities lay fertile, irriga

BirdWatching

3 min read

The wood-warblers, as a group, are among our most colorful and strikingly patterned birds. But there are exceptions, and one of the most notable is the Orange-crowned Warbler. It’s a widespread bird that can be found practically everywhere in North A

All About History

4 min read

Opening her first chocolate shop in Brussels in 1919, Delluc focused on the excellence and quality of her handmade chocolates, emphasising them as a luxury product that should be relished. Not only was she the first woman to pioneer Belgian chocolate