Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (also spelt Velásquez, 1465-1524) was a Spanish conquistador who conquered Cuba in 1511, became the island's first governor for the next decade, and sponsored expeditions of conquest directed at the American mainland, notably the one led by Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) which conquered the Aztec civilization of Mexico.
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Timeline
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1465 - 1524Life of the conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar who conquered and then governed Cuba.
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1465Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar is born in Cuéllar, Spain.
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1493Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar joins Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World.
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1511 - 1513Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar conducts the Spanish conquest of Cuba.
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1517Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar sends an expedition led by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba to explore the Yucatán peninsula.
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1518Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar sends an expedition led by Juan de Grijalva to explore the Yucatán peninsula.
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1519Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar sends an expedition led by Hernán Cortés to explore the Yucatán peninsula.
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1519 - 1521Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar and Hernán Cortés contest who has the legal right to lead the conquest of Mexico.
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1521Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar is removed from office as governor of Cuba.
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1523Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar is reinstated as the governor of Cuba.
