A small Spanish force led by Francisco Pizarro ambushes and captures the Inca emperor Atahualpa, beginning the fall of the Inca Empire.
Date given in the Julian calendar.
Francisco Pizarro founds Lima, which becomes the capital of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru.
The ship Victoria under Juan Sebastián Elcano returns to Spain, completing the circumnavigation begun by Magellan.
Warriors led by the chieftain Lapulapu defeat Ferdinand Magellan's men on Mactan island; Magellan is killed.
Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés and their Indigenous allies capture the Aztec capital.
Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés land on Mexico's Gulf Coast and found Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, beginning the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
The vast silver deposits of Cerro Rico at Potosí begin to be mined, supplying huge quantities of silver to Spain and the world economy.