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 following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493. 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.
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Cultura Profética band members Willy Rodríguez (left) and Boris Bilbraut (right) performing in Nicaragua on February 16, 2013
Cultura Profética (in English, Prophetic Culture) is a Puerto Ricanreggae band formed in 1996. The band has undergone several lineup changes, but founding members Willy Rodríguez (bass guitar, vocals), Eliut González (guitar), and Omar Silva (guitar, bass guitar) have remained in the group throughout its history. Despite primarily performing reggae music, Cultura Profética has experimented with genres such as bossa nova, tango, jazz, and salsa. Lyrically, the group discusses socio-political and ecological issues including Latin American identity and environmental concerns, as well as interpersonal relationships and love.
After gaining popularity in Puerto Rico as a cover band, Cultura Profética began performing original music and released its debut album, Canción de Alerta, in 1996. The group followed up with Ideas Nuevas in 2000, which featured further musical experimentation with a wider variety of musical styles, and then Diario in 2004. After relocating to Mexico, the band released M.O.T.A. in 2005, which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Latin Albums chart. In 2010, Cultura Profética released La Dulzura, which took a more romantic lyrical focus and produced the radio hit "La Complicidad". In recent years, Cultura Profética has released the singles "Saca, Prende y Sorprende" (2014), "Le Da Igual" (2015), and "Musica Sin Tiempo" (2017). The group released their most recent album, Sobrevolando, in November 2019. (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...)
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Map of the Puerto Rico campaign illustrating operations July 25 – August 12, 1898, and showing municipality borders in 1898. Blue are US Naval forces, red are US land forces, and green are Spanish ground forces. Map of Puerto Rico under the US and Spanish flags from August 14 til September 19, 1898. The 23 blue-colored municipalities were under the US flag and the 55 yellow-colored municipalities were under the Spanish flag (Full article...)
Puerto Rican recording artist Ricky Martin has released ten studio albums, seven compilation albums, two live albums, one soundtrack album and four box sets. Martin has sold over 70 million records, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time. His self-titled debut studio album was released in November 1991 by Sony Discos. Two years later, Columbia Records released Martin's second studio album, Me Amaras. Despite both albums failing to achieve a significant commercial success, they pushed Martin towards superstar status in many Latin American countries. His third studio album, A Medio Vivir, was released in September 1995 by Sony Latin. The album features a "harder rock edge style" than his previous efforts, while being mixed with Latin references such as flamenco and cumbia. A Medio Vivir charted in several countries and peaked at number seven in Spain and number 11 on the US Latin Albums chart.
In 1998, Martin released his fourth studio album, Vuelve, which became his first record to chart on the US Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 40; it became the highest-selling Latin album of 1999 and is the tenth bestselling Latin album of all-time in the country . Additionally, it peaked at number one on the US Latin Albums chart and in Spain, where it was certified six-times platinum by Promusicae. He released his fifth studio and second eponymous album in 1999; it was a commercial success reaching number one in Australia, Finland, Spain and in the United States, and number two in the United Kingdom. It was certified seven-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the United States. As of April 2011, Ricky Martin has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, making it his best selling-album. (Full article...)
In Puerto Rico, boxing is considered a major sport, having produced more amateur and professional world champions than any other sport in its history. Puerto Rico ranks 5th worldwide between countries with most boxing world champions in history (only behind USA, Mexico, UK and Japan). Also, in year 2004, became the first country to have had, at least, one world champion in every single one of the 17 current boxing weight divisions throughout the history (Provided that John Ruiz is considered as Puerto Rican and not counting Bridgerweight division). Puerto Rico ranks first in champions per capita with an astonishing 16 in every one million people. February 9, 2008 was the first time that boxers from Puerto Rico had held three of the four major welterweights titles (World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization) when Carlos Quintana defeated Paul Williams to join Miguel Cotto, and Kermit Cintron as champions in the division.
Individually, Puerto Rican world champions have earned numerous achievements. These include, Wilfredo Gómez's record for most defenses in the super bantamweight division and for most successive knockouts by a titleholder. On March 6, 1976, at age 17, Wilfred Benítez became the youngest world champion in the history of the sport. On September 3, 1994, Daniel Jiménez established a world record for the quickest knockout in a championship fight, defeating Harald Geier in 17 seconds (currently the second fastest). Juan Manuel López is sixth in this category, having defeated César Figueroa in 47 seconds during his first defense. Ossie Ocasio was the first World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight champion, winning it on February 13, 1982. This accomplishment was mimicked in other organizations: José de Jesús, José Ruíz Matos, John John Molina and Héctor Camacho did it in their respective divisions in the World Boxing Organization (WBO). On June 7, 2014, Miguel Cotto made history by becoming Puerto Rico's first four-division world champion. In women's boxing, Amanda Serrano was the first IBF super featherweight champion and the first Puerto Rican boxer (male or female) to win major world titles in seven different weight classes (Camacho made it first, but four of his titles were considered minor world titles). Also, in 2023, Serrano was the first Puerto Rican to be Undisputed world champion in a single division (featherweight), having won the four belts on each of the major boxing organizations (WBO,WBC,IBF and later WBA). (Full article...)
The cathedral has a history that dates to 1670. It has been damaged several times by fires and earthquakes. It stands out among Puerto Rico's other four cathedrals for its intricate design. It has a large pipe organ that was played by danza master and composer Juan Morel Campos. Architecturally, it is designed in the neoclassical style. Structurally, it follows a cruciform plan, with a large dome at the crossing. The interior consists of a main nave and two large aisles separated by a series of eight arcades. There are two small chapels in its interior. Two three-story square towers decorate the front facade.[citation needed] (Full article...)
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The 1985 Puerto Rico floods produced the deadliest single landslide on record in North America, that killed at least 130 people in the Mameyes neighborhood of barrio Portugués Urbano in Ponce. The floods were the result of a westward-moving tropical wave that emerged off the coast of Africa on September 29. The system moved into the Caribbean Sea on October 5 and produced torrential rainfall across Puerto Rico, peaking at 31.67 in (804 mm) in Toro Negro State Forest. Two stations broke their 24-hour rainfall records set in 1899. The rains caused severe flooding in the southern half of Puerto Rico, which isolated towns, washed out roads, and caused rivers to exceed their banks. In addition to the deadly landslide in Mameyes, the floods washed out a bridge in Santa Isabel that killed several people. The storm system caused about $125 million in damage and 180 deaths, which prompted a presidential disaster declaration. The tropical wave later spawned Tropical Storm Isabel. (Full article...)
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Areas affected by the hurricane (excluding Bermuda)
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...)
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"Rezo" (English: "I Pray") is a song by Puerto Rican entertainer Carlos Ponce from his 1998 eponymous debut album. The song was co-written by Ponce and Freddy Piñero, Jr. with productions being handled by Emilio Estefan and Kike Santander. It was released as the lead single from the album on May 12, 1998. A pop and tropicalpower ballad with a gospel chorus, the singer leads a prayer for a woman he desires. A remix of the track was also included in the album. The song received positive reactions from three music journalists.
The song was a recipient of a Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Latin Award in 2000. Commercially, it topped the charts in all the Spanish-speaking countries of Central America as well as the BillboardHot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts in the United States. It also reached number four and three in Colombia and the Mexican ballads charts, respectively. A music video for "Rezo" was filmed and features Mexican model Barbara Coppel. It was nominated in the category of Video of the Year at the 11th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards in 1999. (Full article...)
The film entered development in 2014 at 20th Century Fox; Kushner began writing the screenplay in 2017. In January 2018, Spielberg was hired and casting began that September. Justin Peck choreographed the dance sequences. Principal photography occurred in New York and New Jersey; filming began in July 2019 and ran for two months. (Full article...)
Lyrically, the song follows the protagonist talking to her lover, assuring him that she is going to be with him. Queen performed the song for the first time on Don Francisco Presenta. Furthermore, the video for the song reached the top of the music video countdown hosted by Terra Networks. (Full article...)
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Puerto Rico competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics which was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The American territory with a population of four million people qualified 22 athletes in eight different sports. The appearance of the Puerto Rican delegation at the Beijing Olympics marked the commonwealth's sixteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics, and its twenty-second appearance at any Olympic Games, since its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. Of its competitors participating in events that involve progression by heats, six athletes advanced at least one round in their events, and two advanced at least two rounds, with Asunción Ocasio almost medaling bronze in taekwondo. However, there were no Puerto Rican medalists at the Beijing Olympics. McWilliams Arroyo, a boxer, bore Puerto Rico's flag at the ceremonies. (Full article...)
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"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...)
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Monument of Roberto Cofresí located in Cofresi Bay.
Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano[a] (June 17, 1791 – March 29, 1825), better known as Pirata Cofresí, was a pirate from Puerto Rico. He was born into a noble family, but the political and economic difficulties faced by the island as a colony of the Spanish Empire during the Latin American wars of independence meant that his household was poor. Cofresí worked at sea from an early age which familiarized him with the region's geography, but it provided only a modest salary, and he eventually decided to abandon the sailor's life and became a pirate. He had previous links to land-based criminal activities, but the reason for Cofresí's change of vocation is unknown; historians speculate that he may have worked as a privateer aboard El Scipión, a ship owned by one of his cousins.
At the height of his career, Cofresí evaded capture by vessels from Spain, Gran Colombia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, and the United States. He commanded several small-draft vessels, the best known a fast six-gun sloop named Anne, and he had a preference for speed and maneuverability over firepower. He manned them with small, rotating crews which most contemporaneous documents numbered at 10 to 20. He preferred to outrun his pursuers, but his flotilla engaged the West Indies Squadron twice, attacking the schooners USS Grampus and USS Beagle. Most crew members were recruited locally, although men occasionally joined them from the other Antilles, Central America, and Europe. He never confessed to murder, but he reportedly boasted about his crimes, and 300 to 400 people died as a result of his pillaging, mostly foreigners. (Full article...)
April 21, 1927 - Birth of José Miguel Agrelot, Puerto Rican comedian, radio and television host and media icon known for his Don Cholito character (d. 2004)
Caja de Muertos Light, (Faro de la Isla de Caja de Muertos) is an 1887 lighthouse in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that is unique amongst all other lighthouses in Puerto Rico for its unusual Cross of Lorraine, double-arm, T-type shape structure. The historic lighthouse is located in Caja de Muertos, an uninhabited island off the coast of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The light stands at the highest point of the island. (Full article...)
Isabel González with her husband Juan Francisco Torres. Isabel paved the way for Puerto Ricans to be given United States citizenship
Isabel González (May 2, 1882 – June 11, 1971) was a Puerto Rican activist who helped pave the way for Puerto Ricans to be given United States citizenship. As a young unwed pregnant woman, González had her plans to find and marry the father of her unborn child derailed by the United States Treasury Department when she was excluded as an alien "likely to become a public charge" upon her arrival in New York City. González challenged the Government of the United States in the groundbreaking case Gonzales v. Williams (192 U.S. 1 (1904)). Officially the case was known as Isabella Gonzales, Appellant, v. William Williams, United States Commissioner of Immigration at the Port of New York No. 225, argued December 4, 7, 1903, and decided January 4, 1904. Her case was an appeal from the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York, filed February 27, 1903, after also having her writ of habeas corpus (HC. 1-187) dismissed. Her Supreme Court case is the first time that the Court confronted the citizenship status of inhabitants of territories acquired by the United States. González actively pursued the cause of U.S. citizenship for all Puerto Ricans by writing letters published in The New York Times. (Full article...)
... that In 1963, the Air National Guard Base, at the San Juan International airport in Puerto Rico, was renamed "Muñiz Air National Guard Base" in honor of Lieutenant Colonel José Antonio Muñiz, a co-founder of the "PRANG"?[2]
... that Lieutenant Colonel Olga E. Custodio made history when she became the first female Hispanic U.S. military pilot and that after retiring from the military she became the first Latina to become a commercial airline captain?[4]
... that on September 11, 2001, Marc H. Sasseville, now a Brigadier General, was given the mission of finding United Airlines Flight 93 and destroying it, even if it meant ramming the plane. The tactic would be similar to the suicide military tactics known as kamikaze missions used by the military aviators from the Empire of Japan in World War II?[5]
... that Brigadier General Irene M. Zoppi is the first Puerto Rican female to reach the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Armed Forces?[6]
... that Marta Carcana is the first woman Adjutant General of the Puerto Rican National Guard?[7][8]
... that President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Juan E. Negrón, Demensio Rivera, Miguel Vera and Félix Conde Falcón bringing the total Puerto Rican recipients of said honor to nine? Prior to the Medal of Honor upgrade, which was made on March 18, 2014, they all had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross Medal.[9]
The following are images from various Puerto Rico-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Flag flown by Fidel Vélez and his men during the "Intentona de Yauco" revolt. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 2"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 3Los Reyes Magos painted by Hipolito Marte Martinez, "In Puerto Rico, Melchior is always represented with dark skin" (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 4US and Puerto Rico flags on a building in Puerto Rico (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 5The original Lares revolutionary flag. The first "Puerto Rican Flag" used in the unsuccessful Grito de Lares (Lares Uprising). (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 7Royal Cédula of Graces, 1815, which granted legal entry of some foreigners to Puerto Rico. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 8El Imparcial headline: "Aviation (US) bombs Utuado" during Nationalist revolts. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 9An 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)
Image 21'La escuelo del Maestro Cordero' by Puerto Rican artist Francisco Oller. (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 22The 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 24Sugar 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)
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