1, 1521 Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec emperor, is crowned, without fanfare.

Tradition dictates
that he has to marry and he does so, with his cousin Teucipoh.

2, 1897 Guillermo Prieto (born Mexico City February 10, 1818,) dies in Mexico City. Prieto was
an illustrious writer, historian and politician who saved the life of Benito Juárez on March 14,
1858, when he faced the rebels and cried, "Halt! Brave people don't carry out assassinations".

4, 1929 A new political party, the National Revolutionary Party (Partido Nacional
Revolucionario), is founded, with the support of President Elias Calles who wants to attract all
the revolutionary forces. The party later changes its name to the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) and remains in power until the year 2000.

7, 1836 In the war against Texas, General Santa Anna takes the fort of El Alamo in San Antonio
and orders all survivors shot.

9, 1916 Francisco Villa makes a surprise attack at dawn on Columbus, New Mexico. Villa's
foolhardy incursion results in retaliation on March 14 when General John Pershing enters
Mexico with a "Punitive Expedition" to hunt for Villa. Pershing's expedition remains in Mexico
until February 6, 1917. Expedition members include Dwight D. Eisenhower.

10, 1911 Emiliano Zapata begins a rebellion in the state of Morelos to protest the fact that
large landowners are dispossessing peasant farmers (campesinos) of their land.

11, 1916 Venustiano Carranza arrives in Mexico City, where he establishes a provisional
government, with himself at its head.

12, 1911 Gustavo Díaz Ordaz is born in San Andrés Chalchicomula, (now known as Ciudad
Serdán) in Puebla. A lawyer and politician, he serves a term as President from 1964 to 1970.
13, 1325 The date on which Tenochtitlan is believed to have been founded by a wandering
group of Méxica Indians, who had set out from Aztlán about 150 years previously. They had
been looking for an eagle perched on a prickly pear (nopal) cactus. The city became the Aztec
capital, center of an extensive Empire, and it was later transformed into Mexico City.

12, 1911 Gustavo Díaz Ordaz is born in San Andrés Chalchicomula, (now known as Ciudad
Serdán) in Puebla. A lawyer and politician, he serves a term as President from 1964 to 1970.

13, 1325 The date on which Tenochtitlan is believed to have been founded by a wandering
group of Méxica Indians, who had set out from Aztlán about 150 years previously. They had
been looking for an eagle perched on a prickly pear (nopal) cactus. The city became the Aztec
capital, center of an extensive Empire, and was later transformed into Mexico City.

15, 1861 The government of President Benito Juárez decrees the use of the metric system
throughout Mexico, as of January 1, 1862. Decimal coinage is minted for the first time. Another
President (Comonfort) had already forced engineers to use the metric system, four years
previously. Later governments do not insist on decimalization and President Porfirio Díaz
issues further decrees in 1882 by President Manuel González and 1896.

17, 1917 Mexico declares its neutrality in the First World War.

18, 1541 The city of Valladolid (which was later renamed Morelia) was founded by the Viceroy,
Antonio de Mendoza, in the Guayangareo valley in Michoacan. The city quickly became the
state capital.

21, 1806 Benito Juárez García is born in the village of San Pablo Guelatao, in the state of
Oaxaca. Juárez becomes a distinguished and patriotic President of Mexico, loyal to the rights
of all peoples and all nations, and dedicated to the pursuit of national justice and sovereignty.
27, 1853 General Antonio López de Santa Anna is declared President for the eleventh time. He
assumes office on April 20 and remains in power until August 12, 1855.

28, 1847 After six days, the U.S. forces end their bombardment of the port of Veracruz. Despite valiant
resistance, the port is forced to surrender. Its inhabitants' heroic efforts result in the city being
adjudged "Heroico" for the second occasion.

31, 1926 General Ángel Flores (born October 3, 1833) dies in Culiacán, Sinaloa. With the
support of the Right, he had aspired to the Presidency during the Revolution.

31, 1969A gas explosion in a coal mine in Barroterán, Coahuila, kills 155 miners.