Latin America Timeline By k4te Period: 1 CE to 500 Teotihuacan Period: 500 to 1200 Mayan civilisation Period: 1200 to 1521 Aztec civilisation Period: 1200 to 1533 Incan civilisation 1492 Columbus "discovers" America Period: 1502 to 1520 Reign of Montezuma 1519 Hernan Cortes arrives to explore Central America 1531 Francisco Pizarra and Diego de Almagro explore Peru Period: 1532 to 1533 Reign of Atahuallpa 1572 Christianity and the Jesuits arrive 1821 Mexican War of Independence Period: 1846 to 1848 Mexican-US Civil War Period: 1910 to 1917 The Mexican Revolution Period: 1953 to 1959 The Cuban Revolution