Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago; these included the
Ortoiroid,
Saladoid, and
Taíno. It was then colonized by
Spain in 1493 following the arrival of
Christopher Columbus. Puerto Rico was contested by other European
powers, but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries. An influx of
African slaves and settlers primarily from the
Canary Islands and
Andalusia vastly changed the cultural and demographic landscape of the island. Within the
Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like
Peru and
New Spain. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered around a fusion of indigenous, African, and European elements. In 1898, following the
Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was
acquired by the United States.
The hurricane struck
Barbados likely as a
Category 5 hurricane, with at least one estimate of wind gusts as high as 200 mph (320 km/h), before moving past
Martinique,
Saint Lucia, and
Sint Eustatius, and causing thousands of deaths on those islands. Coming in the midst of the
American Revolution, the storm caused heavy losses to the British fleet
contesting for control of the area, largely weakening British control over the Atlantic. The hurricane later passed near
Puerto Rico and over the eastern portion of
Hispaniola, causing heavy damage near the coastlines. It ultimately turned to the northeast and was last observed on October 20 southeast of
Atlantic Canada. (Full article...)
Image 2
Diva is the third
studio album by
Puerto Ricanreggaetón recording artist
Ivy Queen. It was released on August 23, 2003 and independently distributed by Real Music Group after being dropped from
Sony Discos. The recording followed her two previous studio albums which were commercially unsuccessful and a hiatus from her musical career beginning in 1999. It featured collaborations with Latin
hip hop artists including
Mexicano 777,
Bimbo and
K-7 while the album's production was handled by a variety of musical producers;
Luny Tunes,
DJ Nelson,
Noriega, and
Iván Joy were enlisted, while DJ Adam produced a majority of the tracks. Lyrically, the album explored female empowerment, infidelity, heartbreak and love with "a veritable compendium of her artistic passion, femininity, and culture". The musical styles of the recording alternate between reggaetón and hip-hop while Queen experiments with
R&B,
dancehall, and
pop balladry.
Diva spawned a total of seven singles: "
Quiero Bailar", "Quiero Saber", "
Papi Te Quiero", "Guillaera", "
Tuya Soy", "Tu No Puedes", and "Súbelo", which were released over the course of three years. "Quiero Bailar" became a commercial success and her first big hit in the United States and Puerto Rico. (Full article...)
Image 3
Cornelius Packard "Dusty" Rhoads (June 9, 1898 – August 13, 1959) was an American
pathologist,
oncologist, and hospital administrator who was involved in a racist scandal and subsequent whitewashing in the 1930s. Beginning in 1940, he served as director of Memorial Hospital for Cancer Research in New York, from 1945 was the first director of Sloan-Kettering Institute, and the first director of the combined
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center. For his contributions to cancer research, Rhoads was featured on the cover of the June 27, 1949 issue of
Time magazine under the title "Cancer Fighter".
"Que Alguien Me Diga" (Someone Tell Me) is a song by Puerto Rican singer
Gilberto Santa Rosa from his 12th studio album, Expresión (1999). It was written by
Omar Alfanno with José Lugo and the artist handling its production. It is a
salsa track in which the singer is searching for unconditional love. Santa Rosa would later record a
ballad version. An accompanying
music video features the singer in a dark room surrounded by female musicians. Both versions of the song received airplay on Latin radio stations.
"A Puro Dolor" is a song recorded by Puerto Rican band
Son by Four. It was written by
Omar Alfanno and released as the first single of the
second studio album of the band in 2000. Two versions of the track were produced by Oscar Llord for the album; one as a
salsa and the other as a ballad. The ballad version was arranged by Alejandro Jaén.
The song reached number-one on
Billboard Top Latin Songs chart, and became the longest running chart topper of its history, spending 20 weeks at the top; this record was broken five years later by Colombian singer
Shakira with "
La Tortura" which spent 25 weeks at number-one. "A Puro Dolor" also reached the
Billboard 100; this led to the recording of an English-language version of the track "Purest of Pain", which was also charted in the United States. (Full article...)
Image 6
Anuel AA in January 2022
Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago (born July 23, 1992), known professionally as Anuel AA, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His music often contains samples and
interpolations of songs that were popular during his youth. He is seen as a controversial figure in the Latin music scene for his legal troubles and feuds with fellow Puerto Rican rappers
Cosculluela,
Ivy Queen and
Arcángel as well as American rapper
6ix9ine. Raised in
Carolina, Puerto Rico, he started recording music at age fourteen and began posting it online four years later in 2014, before eventually signing to the Latin division of fellow American rapper
Rick Ross's
Maybach Music Group. His 2016
mixtapeReal Hasta la Muerte was well-received, but his success was put on hold the same year by a 30-month prison sentence for illegal firearm possession in Puerto Rico. He recorded the entirety of his debut album while incarcerated, during which time his genre of music surged in popularity.
Anuel AA released his debut album, also titled Real Hasta la Muerte, on July 17, 2018, the day he was released from prison. The album was a critical and commercial success. In the coming six months, he appeared on the BillboardHot Latin Songs, solidifying his position as one of the top Latino artists. In August 2019, he released the song "
China", a collaboration with
Daddy Yankee,
Karol G,
Ozuna, and
J Balvin, which was a global success. He has since released the hit song "
Me Gusta" with
Shakira, and his second album, Emmanuel, which was released on May 29, 2020. In November 2020, Anuel AA made a statement on
Instagram and released a new song suggesting his imminent retirement from the music industry, citing family and relationship issues. He was back to music with his collaborative album Los Dioses with
Ozuna. His third studio album Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren was released on November 26, 2021, including 16 tracks. (Full article...)
Dicen Que Soy was well received by music critics for the arrangement and selection of songs for the album. The success of the record led to India receiving a
Billboard Latin Music Award and a
Lo Nuestro nomination. In the United States, it peaked at number four and one on the
Billboard Top Latin Albums and
Tropical Albums charts respectively, and has sold over 140,000 copies as of 2000. (Full article...)
Image 8
"No Quiero Na' Regala'o" (I Don't Want a Gift) is a song by Puerto Rican
salsa band
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico from their studio album De Punta a Punta (1971). Written by Perín Vasquez, it deals with the singer not wanting love merely out of pity.
The song was
covered by Puerto Rican singer
Gilberto Santa Rosa on his tenth studio album Esencia (1996).
Production of Santa Rosa's version was co-handled by the artist and José Lugo. The cover version was positively reviewed by critics, who called it catchy and danceable. In the United States, "No Quiero Na' Regala'o" reached number 10 on the BillboardHot Latin Songs chart and topped the
Tropical Airplay chart, spending three weeks in the position. (Full article...)
In Haiti, Hazel destroyed 40 percent of the coffee trees and 50 percent of the cacao crop, which affected the economy for several years. The hurricane made landfall near
Calabash, North Carolina, and destroyed most waterfront dwellings. It then traveled north along the
Atlantic coast. Hazel affected
Virginia;
Washington, D.C.;
West Virginia;
Maryland;
Delaware;
New Jersey;
Pennsylvania; and
New York. It brought gusts near 160 km/h (100 mph) and caused $281 million (1954
USD) in damage. When it was over Pennsylvania, Hazel consolidated with a cold front and turned northwest towards Canada. When it hit
Ontario as an extratropical storm, rivers and streams in and around Toronto overflowed their banks, which caused severe flooding. As a result, many residential areas in the local floodplains, such as the
Raymore Drive area, were subsequently converted to parkland. In Canada alone, over
C$135 million (2023: C$1.5 billion) of damage was incurred. (Full article...)
In the early 1950s, the Nationalist Party began a series of revolutionary actions, including the 1950
Jayuya Uprising against American presence on the island. They conducted these attacks to protest the false and misleading claims by the
United States government and
Luis Muñoz Marín that Puerto Rico would no longer be dominated by the United States. As part of this initiative,
Pedro Albizu Campos ordered Lebrón to organize attacks in the United States, focusing on locations that were "the most strategic to the enemy." Lebrón led a group of nationalists that
attacked the
United States House of Representatives in 1954. (Full article...)
Image 14
Antonio Paoli (14 April 1871 – 24 August 1946) was a
Puerto Ricantenor. At the height of his fame, he was known as "The King of Tenors and The Tenor of Kings." He is considered to be the first Puerto Rican to reach international fame in the musical arts. Paoli has been recognized as "one of the most outstanding opera singers of all time," and as one who had "one of the most lyric and powerful voices...superior even to his contemporary rival,
Enrico Caruso."
After spending his childhood in his birth city of
Ponce, Paoli moved to Spain where, with the assistance of his well-connected sister
Amalia, he obtained a royal
scholarship to take singing lessons in Italy. After singing to
standing ovation crowds in both Spain and Italy, Paoli made his grand debut in
Paris, France, where he was encouraged to perform on the highest levels of the world stage. Before the end of the 19th century and while Paoli was still in his twenties, he went on a
tour of Europe that earned him both popular acclaim, and imperial honors from princes, kings, and emperors. (Full article...)
López attended the
University of Virginia, earning a degree in psychology despite leaving early to begin his baseball career. In 1997, he played
collegiate summer baseball with the
Falmouth Commodores of the
Cape Cod Baseball League. He was selected by the
Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the
1998 Major League Baseball draft. He began his career as a starting pitcher but struggled, and was converted into a sidearm (or submarine) reliever while still in the Diamondbacks' organization. Before the 2003 season, he was selected by the
Boston Red Sox in the
Rule 5 draft, but was traded to the
Colorado Rockies during
spring training. He spent all of 2003 on Colorado's roster, nearly tying the franchise record for most consecutive batters retired and finishing third among major league rookies in games pitched. He struggled the next two seasons, getting claimed off waivers and later sent to the minors by Arizona in 2005. In 2006, he signed with the
Chicago White Sox but failed to make the team and spent the first part of the season in the minors before getting traded to Boston during the year. (Full article...)
July 25, 1952 - The
Constitution of Puerto Rico went into effect, and the islands were renamed as the Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico).
Abandoned Central Mercedita sugar refinery office building. Note the Snow White Sugar sign and decal on the left of the building facade.
Hacienda Mercedita was a 300-acre (120 ha)
sugarcaneplantation in
Ponce, Puerto Rico, founded in 1861, by
Juan Serrallés Colón. Today Hacienda Mercedita no longer grows sugarcane and its lands are instead used for growing mangoes, grasses, landscape plants and palms, coconut palms, bananas, and seeds.
The Hacienda was the administrative center of the large sugarcane
mill called Central Mercedita as well as that of its cane sugar
refinery plant which packaged the Snow White brand sugar at its nearby packaging plant. Hacienda Mercedita was also the site of origin of a
rum production in 1865 that became the successful
Destilería Serrallés rum distillery producing
Don Q and other spirits. After operating continuously since 1949, Central Mercedita closed down in December 1994, and its sugar mill site is abandoned and in
ruins. The
Serrallés rum distillery, however, is an expanding and successful company still operating from the same original location, in barrio
Vayas, southeast of the intersection of routes
PR-10 and
PR-52. Central Mercedita, where the local sugar cane was processed, is now owned by Puerto Rico's Autoridad de Tierras (English: Land Authority). Though Hacienda Mercedita was located in a different barrio,
Sabanetas, its location was next to the rum distillery, the two being separated only by La Esperanza street (
PR-5506). (Full article...)
... that in 1929, Puerto Rican nurse Rosa A. González wrote "Los Hechos Desconocidos" (The Unknown Facts), a book in which she denounced the discrimination against women and nurses in Puerto Rico? The book convinced James R. Beverley, the Interim Governor of Puerto Rico, to sign Ley 77 (Law 77) in May 1930, which established a Nurses Examining Board.[1]
... that the largest single-aperture telescope ever to be constructed is the Arecibo Observatory located near the city by the same name in Puerto Rico?
... that According to an article written by Margarita Santori López for the official newspaper of the
University of Puerto Rico's
Mayagüez Campus, "Prensa RUM", as of 2003, of the 114 Hispanics working at NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, 70 were Puerto Ricans or of Puerto Rican descent?[2]
... that on May 6, 2004, Joseph M. Acabá became the first person of Puerto Rican descent to become an
astronaut and that on October 2008, was the first Boricua to go into space?[3]
... that Monserrate Román, a Puerto Rican scientist in
NASA, helped NASA build part of the
International Space Station. She is the Chief
Microbiologist for the Environmental Control and Life Support System project which determines how
microbes will behave under different situations and in different locations, such as the nooks and crannies of the Space Station?[4]
... that Dr. Victor Manuel Blanco, an astronomer, has the distinction of having a galactic cluster and the largest 4-m telescope in the Southern Hemisphere named after him?[5]
... that Fermín Tangüis, developed the Tanguis cotton in Peru and saved that nation's cotton industry?[6]
... that Dr. Pedro Beauchamp, The first Puerto Rican specialist certified by the American Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Board, performed the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique on the island in 1985?[7]
... that Dr. María Cordero Hardy's research on vitamin E helped other scientists understand about how the vitamin works in the human body?[8]
Image 14The 45-star flag, used by the United States during the invasion of Puerto Rico, was also the official flag of Puerto Rico from 1899 to 1908. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 15The original Lares revolutionary flag. The first "Puerto Rican Flag" used in the unsuccessful Grito de Lares (Lares Uprising). (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 16The first Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, established in 1900. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 18Sugar cane workers resting at the noon hour,
Rio Piedras. Photograph by
Jack Delano, a photographer for the Farm Security Administration. Ca. 1941. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 19Flag flown by Fidel Vélez and his men during the "Intentona de Yauco" revolt. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 20Los Reyes Magos painted by Hipolito Marte Martinez, "In Puerto Rico, Melchior is always represented with dark skin" (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 21"El desastre es la colonia" (the disaster is the colony), words seen on light meter six months after
Hurricane Maria (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 22El Imparcial headline: "Aviation (US) bombs Utuado" during Nationalist revolts. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 23'La escuelo del Maestro Cordero' by Puerto Rican artist Francisco Oller. (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 25An 1899, caricature by
Louis Dalrymple (1866–1905), showing Uncle Sam harshly lecturing four black children labelled Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Cuba (from History of Puerto Rico)
And yet, despite this assault on their will and their historical destiny, the people of Puerto Rico have preserved their culture, their Latin character, their national feelings, which in themselves give proof of the implacable desire for independence lying within the masses on that Latin American island.
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^"Scientist from Puerto Rico, Maria Cordero Hardy (American Women in Science Biography)" By: Mary Ellen Verheyden-Hilliard; Publisher: Equity Institute; First edition. edition (June 1985); ISBN-10: 0932469027; ISBN-13: 978-0932469021
Puerto Rico was settled by a succession of peoples beginning 2,000 to 4,000 years ago; these included the
Ortoiroid,
Saladoid, and
Taíno. It was then colonized by
Spain in 1493 following the arrival of
Christopher Columbus. Puerto Rico was contested by other European
powers, but remained a Spanish possession for the next four centuries. An influx of
African slaves and settlers primarily from the
Canary Islands and
Andalusia vastly changed the cultural and demographic landscape of the island. Within the
Spanish Empire, Puerto Rico played a secondary but strategic role compared to wealthier colonies like
Peru and
New Spain. By the late 19th century, a distinct Puerto Rican identity began to emerge, centered around a fusion of indigenous, African, and European elements. In 1898, following the
Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was
acquired by the United States.
The hurricane struck
Barbados likely as a
Category 5 hurricane, with at least one estimate of wind gusts as high as 200 mph (320 km/h), before moving past
Martinique,
Saint Lucia, and
Sint Eustatius, and causing thousands of deaths on those islands. Coming in the midst of the
American Revolution, the storm caused heavy losses to the British fleet
contesting for control of the area, largely weakening British control over the Atlantic. The hurricane later passed near
Puerto Rico and over the eastern portion of
Hispaniola, causing heavy damage near the coastlines. It ultimately turned to the northeast and was last observed on October 20 southeast of
Atlantic Canada. (Full article...)
Image 2
Diva is the third
studio album by
Puerto Ricanreggaetón recording artist
Ivy Queen. It was released on August 23, 2003 and independently distributed by Real Music Group after being dropped from
Sony Discos. The recording followed her two previous studio albums which were commercially unsuccessful and a hiatus from her musical career beginning in 1999. It featured collaborations with Latin
hip hop artists including
Mexicano 777,
Bimbo and
K-7 while the album's production was handled by a variety of musical producers;
Luny Tunes,
DJ Nelson,
Noriega, and
Iván Joy were enlisted, while DJ Adam produced a majority of the tracks. Lyrically, the album explored female empowerment, infidelity, heartbreak and love with "a veritable compendium of her artistic passion, femininity, and culture". The musical styles of the recording alternate between reggaetón and hip-hop while Queen experiments with
R&B,
dancehall, and
pop balladry.
Diva spawned a total of seven singles: "
Quiero Bailar", "Quiero Saber", "
Papi Te Quiero", "Guillaera", "
Tuya Soy", "Tu No Puedes", and "Súbelo", which were released over the course of three years. "Quiero Bailar" became a commercial success and her first big hit in the United States and Puerto Rico. (Full article...)
Image 3
Cornelius Packard "Dusty" Rhoads (June 9, 1898 – August 13, 1959) was an American
pathologist,
oncologist, and hospital administrator who was involved in a racist scandal and subsequent whitewashing in the 1930s. Beginning in 1940, he served as director of Memorial Hospital for Cancer Research in New York, from 1945 was the first director of Sloan-Kettering Institute, and the first director of the combined
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center. For his contributions to cancer research, Rhoads was featured on the cover of the June 27, 1949 issue of
Time magazine under the title "Cancer Fighter".
"Que Alguien Me Diga" (Someone Tell Me) is a song by Puerto Rican singer
Gilberto Santa Rosa from his 12th studio album, Expresión (1999). It was written by
Omar Alfanno with José Lugo and the artist handling its production. It is a
salsa track in which the singer is searching for unconditional love. Santa Rosa would later record a
ballad version. An accompanying
music video features the singer in a dark room surrounded by female musicians. Both versions of the song received airplay on Latin radio stations.
"A Puro Dolor" is a song recorded by Puerto Rican band
Son by Four. It was written by
Omar Alfanno and released as the first single of the
second studio album of the band in 2000. Two versions of the track were produced by Oscar Llord for the album; one as a
salsa and the other as a ballad. The ballad version was arranged by Alejandro Jaén.
The song reached number-one on
Billboard Top Latin Songs chart, and became the longest running chart topper of its history, spending 20 weeks at the top; this record was broken five years later by Colombian singer
Shakira with "
La Tortura" which spent 25 weeks at number-one. "A Puro Dolor" also reached the
Billboard 100; this led to the recording of an English-language version of the track "Purest of Pain", which was also charted in the United States. (Full article...)
Image 6
Anuel AA in January 2022
Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago (born July 23, 1992), known professionally as Anuel AA, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His music often contains samples and
interpolations of songs that were popular during his youth. He is seen as a controversial figure in the Latin music scene for his legal troubles and feuds with fellow Puerto Rican rappers
Cosculluela,
Ivy Queen and
Arcángel as well as American rapper
6ix9ine. Raised in
Carolina, Puerto Rico, he started recording music at age fourteen and began posting it online four years later in 2014, before eventually signing to the Latin division of fellow American rapper
Rick Ross's
Maybach Music Group. His 2016
mixtapeReal Hasta la Muerte was well-received, but his success was put on hold the same year by a 30-month prison sentence for illegal firearm possession in Puerto Rico. He recorded the entirety of his debut album while incarcerated, during which time his genre of music surged in popularity.
Anuel AA released his debut album, also titled Real Hasta la Muerte, on July 17, 2018, the day he was released from prison. The album was a critical and commercial success. In the coming six months, he appeared on the BillboardHot Latin Songs, solidifying his position as one of the top Latino artists. In August 2019, he released the song "
China", a collaboration with
Daddy Yankee,
Karol G,
Ozuna, and
J Balvin, which was a global success. He has since released the hit song "
Me Gusta" with
Shakira, and his second album, Emmanuel, which was released on May 29, 2020. In November 2020, Anuel AA made a statement on
Instagram and released a new song suggesting his imminent retirement from the music industry, citing family and relationship issues. He was back to music with his collaborative album Los Dioses with
Ozuna. His third studio album Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren was released on November 26, 2021, including 16 tracks. (Full article...)
Dicen Que Soy was well received by music critics for the arrangement and selection of songs for the album. The success of the record led to India receiving a
Billboard Latin Music Award and a
Lo Nuestro nomination. In the United States, it peaked at number four and one on the
Billboard Top Latin Albums and
Tropical Albums charts respectively, and has sold over 140,000 copies as of 2000. (Full article...)
Image 8
"No Quiero Na' Regala'o" (I Don't Want a Gift) is a song by Puerto Rican
salsa band
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico from their studio album De Punta a Punta (1971). Written by Perín Vasquez, it deals with the singer not wanting love merely out of pity.
The song was
covered by Puerto Rican singer
Gilberto Santa Rosa on his tenth studio album Esencia (1996).
Production of Santa Rosa's version was co-handled by the artist and José Lugo. The cover version was positively reviewed by critics, who called it catchy and danceable. In the United States, "No Quiero Na' Regala'o" reached number 10 on the BillboardHot Latin Songs chart and topped the
Tropical Airplay chart, spending three weeks in the position. (Full article...)
In Haiti, Hazel destroyed 40 percent of the coffee trees and 50 percent of the cacao crop, which affected the economy for several years. The hurricane made landfall near
Calabash, North Carolina, and destroyed most waterfront dwellings. It then traveled north along the
Atlantic coast. Hazel affected
Virginia;
Washington, D.C.;
West Virginia;
Maryland;
Delaware;
New Jersey;
Pennsylvania; and
New York. It brought gusts near 160 km/h (100 mph) and caused $281 million (1954
USD) in damage. When it was over Pennsylvania, Hazel consolidated with a cold front and turned northwest towards Canada. When it hit
Ontario as an extratropical storm, rivers and streams in and around Toronto overflowed their banks, which caused severe flooding. As a result, many residential areas in the local floodplains, such as the
Raymore Drive area, were subsequently converted to parkland. In Canada alone, over
C$135 million (2023: C$1.5 billion) of damage was incurred. (Full article...)
In the early 1950s, the Nationalist Party began a series of revolutionary actions, including the 1950
Jayuya Uprising against American presence on the island. They conducted these attacks to protest the false and misleading claims by the
United States government and
Luis Muñoz Marín that Puerto Rico would no longer be dominated by the United States. As part of this initiative,
Pedro Albizu Campos ordered Lebrón to organize attacks in the United States, focusing on locations that were "the most strategic to the enemy." Lebrón led a group of nationalists that
attacked the
United States House of Representatives in 1954. (Full article...)
Image 14
Antonio Paoli (14 April 1871 – 24 August 1946) was a
Puerto Ricantenor. At the height of his fame, he was known as "The King of Tenors and The Tenor of Kings." He is considered to be the first Puerto Rican to reach international fame in the musical arts. Paoli has been recognized as "one of the most outstanding opera singers of all time," and as one who had "one of the most lyric and powerful voices...superior even to his contemporary rival,
Enrico Caruso."
After spending his childhood in his birth city of
Ponce, Paoli moved to Spain where, with the assistance of his well-connected sister
Amalia, he obtained a royal
scholarship to take singing lessons in Italy. After singing to
standing ovation crowds in both Spain and Italy, Paoli made his grand debut in
Paris, France, where he was encouraged to perform on the highest levels of the world stage. Before the end of the 19th century and while Paoli was still in his twenties, he went on a
tour of Europe that earned him both popular acclaim, and imperial honors from princes, kings, and emperors. (Full article...)
López attended the
University of Virginia, earning a degree in psychology despite leaving early to begin his baseball career. In 1997, he played
collegiate summer baseball with the
Falmouth Commodores of the
Cape Cod Baseball League. He was selected by the
Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the
1998 Major League Baseball draft. He began his career as a starting pitcher but struggled, and was converted into a sidearm (or submarine) reliever while still in the Diamondbacks' organization. Before the 2003 season, he was selected by the
Boston Red Sox in the
Rule 5 draft, but was traded to the
Colorado Rockies during
spring training. He spent all of 2003 on Colorado's roster, nearly tying the franchise record for most consecutive batters retired and finishing third among major league rookies in games pitched. He struggled the next two seasons, getting claimed off waivers and later sent to the minors by Arizona in 2005. In 2006, he signed with the
Chicago White Sox but failed to make the team and spent the first part of the season in the minors before getting traded to Boston during the year. (Full article...)
July 25, 1952 - The
Constitution of Puerto Rico went into effect, and the islands were renamed as the Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico).
Abandoned Central Mercedita sugar refinery office building. Note the Snow White Sugar sign and decal on the left of the building facade.
Hacienda Mercedita was a 300-acre (120 ha)
sugarcaneplantation in
Ponce, Puerto Rico, founded in 1861, by
Juan Serrallés Colón. Today Hacienda Mercedita no longer grows sugarcane and its lands are instead used for growing mangoes, grasses, landscape plants and palms, coconut palms, bananas, and seeds.
The Hacienda was the administrative center of the large sugarcane
mill called Central Mercedita as well as that of its cane sugar
refinery plant which packaged the Snow White brand sugar at its nearby packaging plant. Hacienda Mercedita was also the site of origin of a
rum production in 1865 that became the successful
Destilería Serrallés rum distillery producing
Don Q and other spirits. After operating continuously since 1949, Central Mercedita closed down in December 1994, and its sugar mill site is abandoned and in
ruins. The
Serrallés rum distillery, however, is an expanding and successful company still operating from the same original location, in barrio
Vayas, southeast of the intersection of routes
PR-10 and
PR-52. Central Mercedita, where the local sugar cane was processed, is now owned by Puerto Rico's Autoridad de Tierras (English: Land Authority). Though Hacienda Mercedita was located in a different barrio,
Sabanetas, its location was next to the rum distillery, the two being separated only by La Esperanza street (
PR-5506). (Full article...)
... that in 1929, Puerto Rican nurse Rosa A. González wrote "Los Hechos Desconocidos" (The Unknown Facts), a book in which she denounced the discrimination against women and nurses in Puerto Rico? The book convinced James R. Beverley, the Interim Governor of Puerto Rico, to sign Ley 77 (Law 77) in May 1930, which established a Nurses Examining Board.[1]
... that the largest single-aperture telescope ever to be constructed is the Arecibo Observatory located near the city by the same name in Puerto Rico?
... that According to an article written by Margarita Santori López for the official newspaper of the
University of Puerto Rico's
Mayagüez Campus, "Prensa RUM", as of 2003, of the 114 Hispanics working at NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, 70 were Puerto Ricans or of Puerto Rican descent?[2]
... that on May 6, 2004, Joseph M. Acabá became the first person of Puerto Rican descent to become an
astronaut and that on October 2008, was the first Boricua to go into space?[3]
... that Monserrate Román, a Puerto Rican scientist in
NASA, helped NASA build part of the
International Space Station. She is the Chief
Microbiologist for the Environmental Control and Life Support System project which determines how
microbes will behave under different situations and in different locations, such as the nooks and crannies of the Space Station?[4]
... that Dr. Victor Manuel Blanco, an astronomer, has the distinction of having a galactic cluster and the largest 4-m telescope in the Southern Hemisphere named after him?[5]
... that Fermín Tangüis, developed the Tanguis cotton in Peru and saved that nation's cotton industry?[6]
... that Dr. Pedro Beauchamp, The first Puerto Rican specialist certified by the American Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Board, performed the first in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique on the island in 1985?[7]
... that Dr. María Cordero Hardy's research on vitamin E helped other scientists understand about how the vitamin works in the human body?[8]
Image 14The 45-star flag, used by the United States during the invasion of Puerto Rico, was also the official flag of Puerto Rico from 1899 to 1908. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 15The original Lares revolutionary flag. The first "Puerto Rican Flag" used in the unsuccessful Grito de Lares (Lares Uprising). (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 16The first Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, established in 1900. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 18Sugar cane workers resting at the noon hour,
Rio Piedras. Photograph by
Jack Delano, a photographer for the Farm Security Administration. Ca. 1941. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 19Flag flown by Fidel Vélez and his men during the "Intentona de Yauco" revolt. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 20Los Reyes Magos painted by Hipolito Marte Martinez, "In Puerto Rico, Melchior is always represented with dark skin" (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 21"El desastre es la colonia" (the disaster is the colony), words seen on light meter six months after
Hurricane Maria (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 22El Imparcial headline: "Aviation (US) bombs Utuado" during Nationalist revolts. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 23'La escuelo del Maestro Cordero' by Puerto Rican artist Francisco Oller. (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 25An 1899, caricature by
Louis Dalrymple (1866–1905), showing Uncle Sam harshly lecturing four black children labelled Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Cuba (from History of Puerto Rico)
And yet, despite this assault on their will and their historical destiny, the people of Puerto Rico have preserved their culture, their Latin character, their national feelings, which in themselves give proof of the implacable desire for independence lying within the masses on that Latin American island.
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^"Scientist from Puerto Rico, Maria Cordero Hardy (American Women in Science Biography)" By: Mary Ellen Verheyden-Hilliard; Publisher: Equity Institute; First edition. edition (June 1985); ISBN-10: 0932469027; ISBN-13: 978-0932469021
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