Many of you may know that I grew up in Yucatan, Mexico, a place that is very special to me. But not many people know a lot about “mi tierra” so I wanted to share some fun facts that you may not have known about Yucatan.
It is thought that the asteroid that killed off dinosaurs 65 million years ago, hit the Yucatan peninsula. They discovered this when they found a large crater around the State of Yucatan that was created around the same time the dinosaurs went extinct.
Yucatan actually declared its independence from Mexico in 1946. They rejoined Mexico two years after, largely because of an indigenous revolution that almost conquered the entire Republic.
In the late 1800’s, Yucatan was one of the richest states in Mexico because of the cultivation of henequen, a plant used to make rope. By the middle of the 19th Century, the henequen rope was replaced by synthetic rope and the Yucatan became one of the poorest States.
Yucatan is one of the main areas that the Maya inhabited long ago. Did you know that the Mayans had a perfect calendar with 365 days and even leap years? Or that they were one of the first civilizations to use a zero (they called it “Nik”)..even before the Europeans?
Yucatan is truly a special place. Let me know if you ever have plans to visit…I would be glad to give insider tips of places to go.
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