The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico) is a archipelago located east of the Dominican Republic in the northeastern Caribbean. Puerto Rico, the smallest of the Greater Antilles, includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands and keys, including the populated island-municipalities of Vieques and Culebra, as well as unpopulated Mona island, located halfway between the islands of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.
The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States is the subject of ongoing debate on and off the island. Those who support maintaining the current formula insist that upon attaining this status, Puerto Rico entered into a voluntary association with the U.S. "in the nature of a compact", but opponents of the Commonwealth status, disagree: according to them, Puerto Rico is no more than an unincorporated organized territory of the U.S., subject to the plenary powers of the United States Congress.
The Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico began in the 15th century with the arrival of the marranos (variously called conversos, Crypto-Jews, or Secret Jews) who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. A Jewish community did not flourish in Puerto Rico because Judaism was prohibited by the Spanish Inquisition. The first large group of Jews to settle in Puerto Rico were European refugees fleeing German–occupied Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. The second influx of Jews to the island came in the 1950s, when thousands of Cuban Jews fled after Fidel Castro came to power. Puerto Rican Jews have made many contributions in multiple fields, including business and commerce, education, and entertainment. Puerto Rico has the largest and richest Jewish community in the Caribbean, with 3,000 Jewish inhabitants. It is also the only Caribbean island in which all three major Jewish denominations— Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform—are represented. ( more...)
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The word Jíbaro, is commonly used in Puerto Rico to refer to mountain dwelling peasant, which has come to represent the Puerto Rican people in all their historic, ethnic and cultural complexity. The image of a jíbaro is used in all forms of Puerto Rican art, including this monument in Cayey.
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Selected anniversaries for February
- February 3, 1977 - Birth of Daddy Yankee (Ramón "Raymond" Ayala), international reggaeton star
- February 4, 1862 - Bacardi, the spirits and rum company, was founded
- February 4, 1922 - Birth of Tommy Muñiz, comedian, dramatic actor, network owner and producer
- February 5, 1953 - Birth of Giannina Braschi, poet, novelist, essayist.
- February 5, 1968 - Birth of Roberto Alomar, former Mayor League Baseball second baseman
- February 6, 1939 - Birth of Orlando Parga, politician and Puerto Rico Senator
- February 13, 1962 - Birth of Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, 8th democratically-elected Governor of Puerto Rico
- February 17, 1904 - Birth of Luis A. Ferré, 3rd democratically-elected Governor of Puerto Rico (d. 2003)
- February 18, 1898 - Birth of Luis Muñoz Marín, 1st democratically-elected Governor of Puerto Rico (d. 1980)
- February 18, 2007 - Death of Juan "Pachín" Vicéns, basketball player (d. 1934)
- February 19, 1913 - Birth of Roberto Sánchez Vilella, 2nd democratically-elected Governor of Puerto Rico (d. 1997)
- February 21, 1994 - Death of Oscar Collazo, one of two Puerto Ricans who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman (b. 1914)
- February 22, 1964 - Birth of Gigi Fernández, professional tennis player
- February 23, 1959 - Death of Luis Palés Matos, poet credited with creating the genre known as Afro-Antillano (b. 1898)
- February 24, 1974 - Birth of Mike Lowell, Mayor League Baseball third baseman
- February 25, 1964 - Birth of Enrique Figueroa, Olympic sailor
- February 27, 1833 - The Municipality of Guayanilla is founded.
- February 29, 1756 - The Municipality of Yauco is founded.
- February 21, 1979 - Birth of Carly Colón, professional wrestler
- ...that as of 2003, twenty-five percent of all pharmaceutical products manufactured in the United States were shipped from Puerto Rico, and sixteen of the top twenty best selling prescription drugs in the United States were produced on the island?
- ...that Old San Juan has more than four hundred carefully restored 16th and 17th century Spanish colonial buildings?
- ...that Admiral Horacio Rivero, Jr. was the first Puerto Rican and second Hispanic to become a four-star Admiral in the U.S. Navy? The first Hispanic full Admiral was David Farragut during the American Civil War.
- ...that the Puerto Rico Trench, roughly parallel to the island and 75 miles north, is home to the deepest submarine depression in the North Atlantic Ocean, and that the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, the Milwaukee Depth (27,493 ft / 8,380 m), lies within the trench?
- ...That on May 6, 2004, Joseph M. Acaba became the first person of Puerto Rican descent to become an astronaut and on that on the Fall of 2008, the first to to go into space?
- ...that world renowned religious minister and member of the Honorary Committee of The Presidential Prayer Team, Rev. Nicky Cruz was once the leader of a notorious New York City street gang called The Mau Maus?
- ...that in the classic academy award-winning film West Side Story, the only actual Puerto Rican casted was Rita Moreno?
- ...that the winning pitcher in the first ever Major League Baseball game played west of Kansas City was Rubén Gómez?
- September 8, 2011: The US Justice Department issues a report decrying systematic civil rights abuse by the Puerto Rico Police Department, including illegal searches, use of excessive force, and corruption, sparking a wide call for action from the public and an announcement of reform by Gov. Luis Fortuño.
- August 21, 2011: Tropical storm Irene passes through Puerto Rico and its surrounding islands while becoming a hurricane just north of San Juan, the first of the 2011 Atlantic season.
- June 29, 2011: Jose "Piculin" Ortiz, a former professional basketball player in the NBA (Utah Jazz) and the Puerto Rican Olympic team and the Superior Basketball League, is arrested for drug-related charges.
- June 12, 2011: In professional basketball, José Juan "J.J." Barea, helps the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Miami Heat (4-2) and win the 2011 NBA Championship. A national welcoming party is held in his honor in Puerto Rico.
Lieutenant General Pedro Augusto del Valle (August 28, 1893 – April 28, 1978) was a United States Marine Corps officer who became the first Hispanic to reach the rank of Lieutenant General. His military career included service in World War I, Haiti and Nicaragua during the so-called Banana Wars of the 1920s, and in the seizure of Guadalcanal and later as Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division during World War ll.
On May 29, 1945, del Valle participated in one of the most important events which led to victory in Okinawa. After five weeks of fighting, his Battalion captured Shuri Castle, a medieval fortress of the ancient Ryukyuan kings, which represented a moral blow for the Japanese and was an undeniable milestone in the Okinawa campaign. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for outstanding leadership as Commanding General of the First Marine Division, during the attack and occupation of Okinawa from 1 April to 21 July 1945. (more...)
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