Hernan Cortes was the greatest of the conquistadors. With only 600 men he was able to bring down the Aztec Civilization, the mightiest of the New World Empires. Modern Mexicans don't think too highly of him, however.

Happy Birthday to Che Guevara! Everyone's favorite communist revolutionary would be 85 today if he had not been executed in Bolivia in 1967. In case you've never heard of him, Che was one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution, in spite of the fact that he was not actually Cuban himself, but was actually born in Argentina. Che was key to the success of the revolution before and after the fall of Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

On June 13, 1533, A Spanish escort left Peru with thousands of pounds of gold and silver looted from the Inca Empire. This Inca treasure was destined for Spain, where the King would receive his share: one fifth of everything.  Francisco Pizarro, conquistador of the Inca, didn't trust just anyone with this loot: only his trusted brother Hernando would do.

Texas has been a part of the USA for so long that we tend to forget that it was once part of Mexico. The Texas revolution was a complicated mixture of Manifest Destiny, ambition and luck.