1783-1824
1902-1988
Actress Adriana Barraza played Amelia in the award-winning film Babel. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
1956-
Mexican actor and director Gael García Bernal starred as Che Guevera in The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) and as Stéphane Miroux in The Science of Sleep (2006).
1978-
1786-1854
1877-1945
Venustiano Carranza was a revolutionary during Mexico's civil war and became the Mexican Republic's first president in 1917.
1859-1920
Artist Elizabeth Catlett celebrates African-American workers in sculptures and prints. She's known for works like "Negro Woman," "Sharecropper" and "Survivor."
1915-2012
Julio César Chávez is a retired Mexican professional boxer and world lightweight champion who, for many years, was one of Mexico's most popular sports figures.
1962-
The son of famed Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez, Julio César Chávez Jr. won the World Boxing Council's middleweight title in 2011, then lost the title to Sergio Martinez in 2012.
1986-
Cuauhtémoc was the last Aztec Emperor, ruling from 1520 to 1521. He was tortured and killed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1522.
1495-1525
1948-
Miguel de la Madrid was president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. He was a political conservative and his administration was characterized by an economic crisis.
1934-2012
Conquistador Juan de Oñate established the colony of New Mexico for Spain. During his governorship, he vainly sought the mythical riches of North America.
1550-1630
1941-
1830-1915
Laura Esquivel is the author of Like Water for Chocolate, an imaginative and compelling combination of novel and cookbook, as well as other books.
1950-
1962-
1942-
Salma Hayek is an actress, director and producer of Mexican descent who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Frida.
1966-
1940-
1753-1811
Victoriano Huerta was dictatorial president of Mexico, whose regime united disparate revolutionary forces in common opposition to him.
1850-1916
1893-1979
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a 17th century nun, self-taught scholar and acclaimed writer of the Latin American colonial period and the Hispanic Baroque. She was also a staunch advocate for women's rights.
1651-1695
Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu is a Mexican film director whose 1999 feature film, Amores Perros, won an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
1963-
Benito Juárez was a national hero and president of Mexico, who, for three years (1864-'67), fought against foreign occupation under Maximilian.
1806-1872
Painter Frida Kahlo was a Mexican self-portrait artist who was married to Diego Rivera and is still admired as a feminist icon.
1907-1954
1908-1972
Antonio López de Santa Anna was a 19th century Mexican military officer who acted as the country’s president and dictator at different periods.
1794-1876
1873-1913
Mexican-born chemist Mario Molina won a Nobel Prize in 1995 for his research on how man-made compounds affect the ozone layer.
1943-
Actor Ricardo Montalban is best known for playing Mr. Roarke on television's Fantasy Island—the role that launched him into true stardom.
1920-2009
1466-1520
1765-1815
1891-1984
1880-1928
José Clemente Orozco was a painter who helped lead the revival of Mexican mural painting in the 1920s. His works are complex and often tragic.
1883-1949
1914-1998
1851-1913
Painter and muralist Diego Rivera sought to make art that reflected the lives of the working class and native peoples of Mexico.
1886-1957
1918-1986
David Alfaro Siqueiros was a Mexican painter and muralist whose work reflected his Marxist ideology.
1896-1974
1899-1991
Mexican pop superstar Gloria Trevi's career fell apart in the 1990s when she and her manager were accused of corrupting minors, sexual abuse, and kidnapping.
1968-
Mexican-American musician Ritchie Valens is best known for his hit "La Bamba." His successful career was cut short when he died in a plane crash at age 17.
1941-1959
1960-
1786-1843
Pancho Villa was a top military leader of the Mexican Revolution whose exploits were regularly filmed by a Hollywood company.
1878-1923
Emiliano Zapata was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), during which he formed and commanded the Liberation Army of the South, an important revolutionary brigade. Followers of Zapata were known as Zapatistas.
1879-1919
1951-
1902-2002