Born 1485,
Medellin, Spain
Died December 2, 1547,
Castilleja de la Cuesta, Spain

Hernán Cortés gained an advantage when the Spanish accidentally introduced smallpox to the Mexican people. Cortés’s artillery, the fact that the Aztec King, Montezuma, believed Cortés was a god, and, finally, the smallpox epidemic itself (which killed the native people in great numbers) permitted Cortés to subdue the Aztecs and build a Spanish city at their capital. After his conquest of the Aztecs he sponsored several explorations in the Americas. Ironically, Cortés’s accomplishments were not rewarded as he would have liked, and he spent the last years of his life petitioning the Spanish king for recognition.

Goes to Hispaniola

Born in the Spanish town of Medellín to a family of...