In 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés led an expedition to Mexico to attack the Aztec Empire.

The eagle standing on a cactus devouring a snake, worshiped by the Aztecs, is still featured in the modern Mexican national emblem.

Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) was a Spanish colonizer of Central and South America, famous for destroying the Aztec civilization and establishing a Spanish colony in Mexico.

In 1521, Cortés and his army captured the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. The Aztec emperor surrendered and was later executed, bringing an end to an indigenous empire nearly a century old.

The Aztecs were devastated by diseases brought from Europe by the Spanish, causing the population to plummet from around 15 million to 3 million. The capital city was completely destroyed.