South America

Inca

Inca Empire Begins The Inca first appeared in modern‑day Peru sometime during the 12th century, arising from earlier pre‑Inca groups in the region. These earlier groups have been credited with creating the ancient Nazca Lines, immense drawings etched into the landscape. According to some versions of their origin myths, they were created by the sun […]

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu’s Inca Past Historians believe Machu Picchu was built at the height of the Inca Empire, which dominated western South America in the 15th and 16th centuries. It was abandoned an estimated 100 years after its construction, probably around the time the Spanish began their conquest of the mighty pre‑Columbian civilization in the 1530s. […]

Easter Island

Early Settlement The first human inhabitants of Rapa Nui (the Polynesian name for Easter Island; its Spanish name is Isla de Pascua) are believed to have arrived in an organized party of emigrants. Archaeology dates their arrival at between 700‑800 A.D., while linguists estimate it was around the year 400. Tradition holds that the first […]

This Day in History: 07/24/1911 – Machu Picchu Discovered

Machu Picchu

The breathtaking Inca city of Machu Picchu was built atop the Andes mountains in Peru.

Easter Island

Discover the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island and the mysterious stone Maoi that dot the island.

How Inca Mummies Ruled Over the Living

The most important members of Inca society continued to be treated as living beings after death—and provided a powerful link to the gods.

The Epic Motorcycle Trip That Turned Che Guevara Into a Revolutionary

A coming‑of‑age adventure through five South American countries set Che Guevara on the path to becoming a Marxist revolutionary.

How a Dictator Got Away With a Brazen Murder in D.C. in 1976

General Pinochet’s agents hunted down Chile’s former Ambassador in the first state‑sponsored international terrorist attack on U.S. soil.