• Aztec statue"coatlicue - aztec goddess of earth" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: rosemanios (Shaun Che) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
  
  

Olmecs

• The Olmec civilization was the first Mexican civilization located in the states of Tabasco and Veracruz. They developed effective means to grow cotton, corn, beans and chile peppers.
  
  

Mayas

• The Mayan civilization, growing from the Olmecs, occupied the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from 250 A.D., declining in the 600s A.D. They had the most advanced calendar and astronomy in the world, retaining that achievement until the twentieth century.
  
  

Aztecs

• The Aztec civilization centered in modern-day Mexico City, and lasted from 1325 to 1521, building a massive society filled with markets, temples and canals. The Aztecs conceived of the modern emblem on Mexico's flag of the eagle eating the snake on the cactus.
  
  

European Subjugation

• Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico in 1519, beginning Spanish colonialism that wiped out the Aztec civilization. The Spanish instituted Catholicism as the official religion.
  
  

Mexican Independence

• The Mexican people declared their independence from Spain on September 16, 1810, but actually won their independence from Spain in 1821 with the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba.