June 30, 1520 - La Noche Triste

On the night of June 30, 1520, Hernán Cortés’s Spaniards and their Tlaxcalan allies tried to flee México-Tenochtitlan after the Mexica rose against them. Mexica warriors led by Cuitláhuac attacked them on the causeways and inflicted heavy losses. The Spanish called it the Noche Triste (Night of Sorrows).

According to tradition, Cortés wept over his defeat under an ahuehuete tree in Popotla. The ahuehuete, a huge and long-lived tree, is today Mexico’s national tree.