In 1878, eadweard muybridge photographed a galloping horse and discovered that:

tenochtitlan (also spelled tenochtitlán), located on an island near the western shore of lake texcoco in central mexico, was the capital city and religious centre of the aztec civilization. the traditional founding date of the city was 1345 ce and it remained the most important aztec centre until its destruction at the hands of the conquering spanish led by hernán cortés in 1521 ce, which led to the final collapse of the aztec empire.

i'm asking the same thing i asked this other cat all of