This is a timeline of Mexican history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events and improvements in Mexico and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see history See also the list of heads of state of Mexico and list of years in Mexico.
16th century Year Date Event 1520 20 May Massacre in the Great Temple: Spanish soldiers killed a group of Aztec nobles in the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan during the celebration of Toxcatl. 29 June Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire: Moctezuma II, the tlatoani of Tenochtitlan and ruler of the Aztec Triple Alliance, was killed. 30 June La Noche Triste: The Spaniard Hernán Cortés lost several hundred men in a fighting escape from Tenochtitlan. 7 July Battle of Otumba: Combined Spanish and Tlaxcala forces seriously defeated a vastly superior Aztec force at Otumba de Gómez Farías. 1521 13 August Fall of Tenochtitlan: Tenochtitlan was taken by Spanish forces. The tlatoani Cuauhtémoc was taken prisoner.
18th century Year Date Event 1713 11 April War of the Spanish Succession: The Treaty of Utrecht was signed, under which Great Britain, Savoy, Portugal, and the United Provinces recognized Philip V of Spain of the House of Bourbon as king of Spain, ending the war. In exchange, Philip renounced the right to pass the throne to his heirs. 1724 15 January Philip abdicated in favor of his son Louis I of Spain. 31 August Louis died of smallpox. 1767 June The Society of Jesus was expelled from New Spain. 1776 The autonomous Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas was established under Teodoro de Croix in the northern provinces of New Spain.
19th century Year Date Event Image 1810 16 September Grito de Dolores: The Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla encouraged his congregation to revolt against the Spanish crown in a speech made at Dolores. 28 September Mexican War of Independence: After Hidalgo orders Juan Antonio Riaño the surrender of Guanajuato, the insurgent troops led by José Mariano Abasolo and Ignacio Camargo take the city. 30 October Battle of Monte de las Cruces: Insurgent forces under Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende defeated Spanish troops at Ocoyoacac. 1811 10 February Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende arrive in Zacatecas. 28 February From Guadalajara, José de la Cruz offers Miguel Hidalgo pardon, according to the amnesty decreed by the Cortes. 1 March Near Saltillo, Ignacio Allende and Miguel Hidalgo reject the pardon. In San Antonio Béjar, José Manuel Zambrano recovers the city and Texas for the royalists. 10 March Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Aldama, José Mariano Abasolo, and Ignacio Allende arrive in Saltillo. 21 March The insurgent caudillos Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, José Mariano Jiménez, José Mariano Abasolo and Ignacio Aldama are captured by Ignacio Elizondo at the Wells of Baján and taken prisoner to Monclova and Chihuahua. The son of Ignacio Allende dies at the site of the capture. 26 June In Chihuahua, Ignacio Allende, Ignacio Aldama and José Mariano Jiménez are executed by a firing squad and decapitated. José Mariano Abasolo is sentenced to life imprisonment. 11 July From Zitácuaro, Ignacio López Rayón proposes to José María Morelos the formation of a governmental board. 30 July Miguel Hidalgo is executed by a firing squad and beheaded in Chihuahua. 1813 14 September The Congress of Chilpancingo is inaugurated. Morelos delivers the inaugural speech and Juan Nepomuceno Rosáins reads the Sentimientos de la Nación. 1815 27 November The Inquisition declares Morelos a heretic and sentences him to life imprisonment in Africa if he is not sentenced to the death penalty. The ecclesiastical degradation of Morelos is carried out in the chapel of the Holy Office. 22 December José María Morelos is executed by a firing squad in San Cristóbal de Ecatepec. 1816 30 January Pope Pius VII publishes the encyclical Esti Longissimo Terrarum, where he exhorts obedience and peace from the rebels in Spanish America, favoring Ferdinand VII. 1821 21 February Mexican War of Independence: The Spanish colonel Agustín de Iturbide and the insurgent leader Vicente Guerrero together issued the Plan of Iguala at a meeting in Iguala, under which Mexico was to become an independent, Catholic constitutional monarchy. 24 February Mexican War of Independence: The armies under Iturbide and Guerrero were consolidated into Iturbide's control in the Army of the Three Guarantees. 24 August Mexican War of Independence: Iturbide and Spanish viceroy Juan O'Donojú signed the Treaty of Córdoba, recognizing the independence of Mexico in personal union with Spain. 1836 10 February General Santa Anna, commanding the battalions of Matamoros, Jiménez, San Luis, the regiment of Dolores and eight pieces of artillery, occupies San Antonio Béjar The rebels retreat to the fort of El Álamo. 6 March After 12 days of siege, the Mexican army assaults the El Álamo. The rebel defenders ultimately surrender. Rebels forge the phrase "Remember the Alamo". 26 March General Urrea abides by Santa Anna's order of executing the prisoners of Goliad under the charge of treason. 7 April Santa Anna arrives in San Felipe Austin and finds the city abandoned and burned by the Texans. He finds out that Samuel Houston, the rebel leader, is located 10 leagues on the left bank of the Brazos River. 21 April Santa Anna's troops, stationed in a hill near the San Jacinto River receive the reinforcement of Perfecto of Cos. The enemy takes refuge in the forest and Santa Anna decides to offer rest to his troops. To his misfortune, Houston's men ambush him. The confrontation lasts for hours until the Mexican ranks disperse. 22 April Santa Anna, who had fled in the fray of the previous day, is captured by Texan forces. 1838 26 October The remains of Agustín de Iturbide are transferred to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City in a sumptuous procession. 27 October In the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City, the funeral honors and the burial of the remains of Agustín de Iturbide take place. 1846 25 April The Thornton Affair is the first clash of the Mexican–American War as 80 cavalrymen under the command of U.S. Captain Seth B. Thornton are attacked by 1600 men under the leadership of Mexican General Anastasio Torrejón in the Nueces Strip between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. 13 May The U.S. Congress declares war against Mexico. 14 May The United States begins the Blockade of Veracruz. 1847 22/23 February The Battle of Buena Vista takes place. The Mexican army is superior in number, but it found poorly armed and exhausted by the march and severity of the weather; For its part, the US military is smaller, but is better organized and has more artillery. The result is indecisive. 23 February During the night, Santa Anna orders the withdrawal of his troops from the battlefield for his focus on the hacienda of Agua Nueva. 27 February The Mexican army under Santa Anna undertakes a forced march to San Luis Potosí, arriving on 12 March. In Mexico City, the Rebellion of the Polkos breaks out against the sale of ecclesiastical property, the opposition to the government of Gómez Farías, and the intention to take Santa Anna to the Presidency. 20 August Regular Mexican troops and Saint Patrick's Battalion under Manuel Rincón hold a fortified monastery against Winfield Scott. 12/13 September General Scott assaults Chapultepec Castle. Los Niños Héroes (six cadets between 12 and 18 years old who died in defense of the military academy) pass into legend. Some captured San Patricios members executed during the battle. 15 September After several days of fierce fighting, Mexico City falls. 27 September The Mexican government moves to Toluca. President Peña calls on the governors and deputies to meet in Querétaro. 13 October In the city of Querétaro, the executive power is established under General Peña y Peña. 1848 2 February The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican–American War is signed in Mexico City. The U.S. agrees to pay US$15 million to Mexico and to pay off the claims of American citizens against Mexico. It gave the United States the Rio Grande as a boundary for Texas, and gave the U.S. ownership of Alta California and a large area comprising roughly half of New Mexico, most of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. 4 July The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo goes into effect. 1854 1 March The Plan de Ayutla is proclaimed, setting off a 19-month revolt against Antonio López de Santa Anna known as the Revolution of Ayutla, leading to La Reforma (The Reform) and the Constitution of 1857. 1855 The Reform laws begin, separating the Catholic Church and the government of Mexico. Principal leaders were Juan Álvarez, Ignacio Comonfort, Benito Juárez, and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. 4 October Juan Álvarez takes office as Interim President of Mexico in Cuernavaca. 1857 5 February The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1857 goes into effect. 17 December The Reform War begins when the Plan of Tacubaya is proclaimed and conservative General Félix María Zuloaga ousts president Ignacio Comonfort. 1858 15 January Benito Juarez becomes president and he moves to Veracruz. 1861 1 January Juarez recaptures Mexico City and goes on to defeat the Conservatives. He is elected president in his own right in March. 31 October France, Great Britain, and Spain agree to the Convention of London, a joint effort to extract loan repayments from Mexico, which President Juarez had frozen three months earlier. 8 December France, Spain, and Great Britain disembark in Veracruz. Spain and Britain later withdraw. 1862 5 May The Mexican Army under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeats the invading French army led by General Charles de Lorencez in the Battle of Puebla. French forces took the city a year later, after the Siege of Puebla (1863). 1863 10 July The Second Mexican Empire is declared, with the support of French Emperor Napoleon III, as well as the Austrian and Belgian crowns. The Empire came to an end on 19 June 1867, with the execution of Emperor Maximilian I. 1864 10 June Fernando Maximiliano José María de Habsburgo-Lorena, Archduke of Austria, was offered the Mexican crown in October, 1863, which he accepted on 10 April. He and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium arrived in Veracruz on 29 May 1864, and they soon established their official residence at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City. 1867 19 June Napoleon III withdrew his army from Mexico in 1866, and Juarez's liberal forces captured Mexico City on 15 May 1867. Maximilian was captured the next day, and following a trial, he was sentenced to death. Maximilian, General Miguel Miramón, and General Tomás Mejía Camacho were executed by firing squad in Cerro de las Campanas, Querétaro City at 6:40am on the morning of 19 June 1867.
20th century