March 16, 1478 - Francisco Pizarro

The conquest of the Inca Empire stands as one of history's most consequential acts of territorial seizure — accomplished with a remarkably small force through a combination of military audacity, political manipulation, and the destabilizing effects of epidemic disease on Inca society. Pizarro's capture and execution of Emperor Atahualpa, despite a ransom fulfilled in gold, effectively decapitated a civilization of millions and opened the Andean world to Spanish colonial rule. The wealth extracted from Peru reshaped European economies and accelerated the destruction of indigenous institutions across the continent.

From Wikipedia

Francisco Pizarro (; Spanish: [fɾanˈθisko piˈθaro]; c. 1478 – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.

Born in Trujillo, Spain, to a poor family of pig farmers, Pizarro chose to pursue fortune and adventure in the New World. He went to the Gulf of Urabá and accompanied Vasco Núñez de Balboa in his crossing of the Isthmus of Panama, where they became the first Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas. He served as mayor of the newly founded Panama City for a few years and undertook two failed expeditions to Peru. In 1529, Pizarro obtained permission from the Spanish crown to lead a campaign to conquer Peru and went on his third, and successful, expedition.

When Peru was found in a vulnerable state of civil war, Pizarro moved inland and founded the first Spanish settlement in Peru, San Miguel de Piura. After a series of manoeuvres that heavily relied on the Spanish guns and cavalry, Pizarro captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca in November 1532. A ransom for the emperor's release was demanded and Atahualpa filled a room with gold to the highest point he could reach, but Pizarro charged him with various crimes and executed him by garrotting in July 1533.

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