Spanish conquistador and eventual Governor of Peru Francisco Pizarro acquired wealth through kidnapping, ransom, and murder. Find out more about his violent rise to power in this video.

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Find out what happened on November 16 in this video of This Day in History. On November 16, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed a bill for the construction of the Alaskan Pipeline. This bill was protested by environmentalists. On November 16, 1988, Benazir Bhutto's party won the parliamentary elections, which made her the first woman leader of a Muslim majority country. On November 16, 2000, President Bill Clinton became the first U.S. President to visit Vietnam since the Vietnam War. Lastly, on November 16, 1532, Francisco Pizarro trapped the Incan emperor Atahualpa. He invited the emperor to a banquet and captured him. Although he was paid a lot of money in gold, Pizarro still killed the emperor, who would not except Spanish rule.

The great San Francisco earthquake killed 3,000 people, Paul Revere's midnight ride took place, physicist, Albert Einstein died, and play ball began a Yankees and Red Sox game for the first time in This Day in History video. The date is April 18th. Paul Revere's ride resulted in the battles of Lexington and Concord and signaled the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

After establishing a colony in Mexico, Spanish nobleman Hernán Cortés rallied native allies and conquered the Aztec Empire. Learn more about what led him to destroy one of the greatest civilizations in human history in this video.