Mexico is not only one of the best places to watch the Venus transit of 2012 and it also one of the most historic.  The Mayans, according to historians noted in the CS Monitor, are said to have recorded the transits of 1153 and 1275 on wall paintings and in their calendar.

Unfortunately by the time of the last transit set in 1874 and 1882, many Mayans had been wiped out by war and disease.

The Mayans meticulously tracked the movement of the Sun and Venus to aid with their tracking of seasons.  Written documents that the Mayans left behind include the charting of the planet Venus and solar cycles.  In Mayan myth, Venus is the companion of the sun and thought to be more important than the Sun itself. 

Historians also believe that Venus’ movements influenced when Mayans went to war and made many human sacrifices when Venus was at its ‘dimmest magnitude’.

For the U.S. and Mexico this astronomical treat will end at sunset and the world will not see anything like this until another 105 years, in 2117.