Historian Bob Pateman has spent 2025 tracking Mexico through the ages. Beginning with the Chixulub impact 66 million years ago, he’s followed the journey of a country from Indigenous empire to colonial powerhouse — and beyond.
Here are some of the highlights of his work.
The death of the dinosaurs
Mexico’s Chixulub crater is an ancient scar that marks the spot when life on earth changed forever. What happened when a giant asteroid slammed into the Yucatán?
Who were Mexico’s earliest humans?
The Olmecs might be considered Mexico’s first dominant civilization, but the region was inhabited for centuries before that. From the Stone Age to the advent of agriculture, Bob chronicles the history of the earliest recorded Mexicans.
When did Spain first discover Mexico?
While Hernán Cortés was the man who conquered the country, he was not the first Spaniard to set foot in what would later become Mexico. A tale of exploration, daring and discovery that culminated in one of the most momentous moments of early modern history, we take a look at how the old world met the new.
Mexico City wasn’t always the center of the country
While it seems hard to believe today, Mexico City was not always the economic powerhouse that funded the nation. At the height of the Spanish Empire, the city of Acapulco was possibly the most prosperous city on earth, at the center of a vast and powerful trade network.
Mexico’s navy was once the best in the world
A newly independent Mexico was fighting to defend its vast lands from threats in the north and south — as it took on both United States troops in Texas and separatists forces in the Yucatán. It was able to fight both thanks to the power of modern naval technology.
When did Mexico become a global cultural force?
Almost 60 years after independence from Spain, Mexico was still somewhat of a cultural unknown to most of the world. That all changed at the World Fair of 1889, when Parisian audiences were wowed by Mexico’s culture, history and promise.
Bob Pateman is a Mexico-based historian, librarian and a life-term hasher. He is editor of On On Magazine, the international history magazine of hashing.
