December 2, 1485 - Hernán Cortés
The conquest he set in motion reshaped an entire civilization within a few years, dismantling one of the most powerful empires in the Americas through a combination of military force, strategic alliance-building with rival indigenous groups, and the catastrophic spread of disease. What distinguishes Cortés historically is the scale of transformation he engineered — and his willingness to operate outside sanctioned authority to do it, defying direct orders before he had even reached the mainland.
From Wikipedia
Hernán Cortés, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (c. 1485 – 2 December 1547) was a Spanish conquistador, military commander, explorer, captain general, and writer who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of what is now mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish explorers and conquistadors who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Born in Medellín, Spain, to a family of lesser nobility, Cortés chose to pursue adventure and riches in the New World. He went to Hispaniola and later to Cuba, where he received an encomienda (the right to the labour of certain subjects). For a short time, he served as alcalde (magistrate) of the second Spanish town founded on the island. In 1519, he was elected captain of the third expedition to the mainland, which he partly funded. His enmity with the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, resulted in the recall of the expedition at the last moment, an order which Cortés ignored.
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