Index to Mexico this month (all 12 months) December 1, 1810 José María Mercado, a priest supporting Father Hidalgo’s call for independence from Spain, attacks the Pacific coast port of San Blas, capturing it in a few hours. 2, 1546 Hernán Cortés, leader of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, dies in Spain. His body is […]
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Index to Mexico this month (all 12 months) April 1, 1536. Pánfilo Narváez’s expedition had been shipwrecked off the Florida coast in 1518. After 18 years of traversing the continent, on foot, four survivors, including Alvaro Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and Alonso del Castillo Maldonado finally make contact with other Spaniards near the Pacific Ocean […]
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When European ships were wrecked at sea, a Christian burial was usually afforded those whose bodies washed up on the shoreline. That was not the case here. Somewhere on a desolate stretch of a Baja California beach lie the bones and cargo of a once majestic Spanish galleon. It was around 1576 when she vanished […]
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Index to Mexico this month (all 12 months) 1, 1867 The Battle of San Jacinto is fought in Zacatecas between Republican forces, commanded by Mariano Escobedo, and the Imperialist forces of Miguel Miramón. The Republicans win, and take about 500 prisoners, including 139 French soldiers and general Miramón. 2, 1530 Hernán Cortés commissions Nuño Beltrán […]
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MexConnect is 25 years old this year! David McLaughlin launched MexConnect (originally Mexico Connect) in 1996 after many months of behind-the-scenes preparation. MexConnect was initially published as a monthly magazine, with an entire new selection of articles on various topics added every month. The first homepage design (eg November 1996) had Living, Mexico Travel and […]
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Index to Mexico this month (all 12 months) 1, 1521 Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec emperor, is crowned, without fanfare. Tradition dictates that he has to marry and he does so, with his cousin Teucipoh. 1, 1845 The U.S. Congress approves the annexation of Texas and chooses the Rio Bravo as its southern limit. 2, 1897 […]
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Tony Burton’s thoroughly researched and utterly fascinating book If Walls Could Talk, published by Sombrero Books, takes us through the surprising and richly textured history of Chapala’s past from the mid-eighteen hundreds onwards. I had no idea that this laid back, seemingly staid resort town on the shores of Jalisco’s Lake Chapala could have had […]
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Index to Mexico this month (all 12 months) 1, 1542 The Fourth Expedition to Asia departs from the Pacific coast port of Navidad (now known as Barra de Navidad) under the command of Ruy López de Villalobos. This expedition reaches the Philippines. 2, 1810 In the opening chapter of Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain, […]
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On 29 June 2020, Sotheby’s held an auction that included one of the last paintings Frida Kahlo ever painted. The small work, which she completed while confined to her bed, was her contribution to the Peoples for Peace Congress held in Vienna in 1952. Sotheby’s estimated that “Congreso de los pueblos por la paz” would […]
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Index to Mexico this month (all 12 months) October 1, 1542 The decision is made to refound the city of Guadalajara in its present location, in the valley of Atemajac. Three previous attempts to found the city had not prospered, but the site chosen this time proved more propitious. 2, 1535 The first Viceroy of […]
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