At the age of 80, after nearly 35 years of continuous rule, Mexican President General Porfirio Díaz gave an interview announcing he would not run for re-election in the 1910 elections. Then he changed his mind—sparking the Mexican Revolution (which has been traditionally celebrated on November 20).

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For ten years the conflict raged, plunging the nation into a civil war between the Constitutionalists and the revolutionaries lead by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. Foreign powers, most significantly, the United States, played a significant role in trying to protect their economic and strategic interests in Mexico. By the end of the revolution 10% of Mexico’s population of 15 million had died, while some 200,000 refugees fled, many going north of the border.

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