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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...)
"Te Conozco Bien" (English: "I Know You Well") is a song by American singer Marc Anthony from his second studio album, Todo a Su Tiempo (1995). The song was written by Omar Alfanno, with production being handled by Marc Anthony and Sergio George. It was released as the first promotional single from the album on May 30, 1995. A salsa song, it sees the singer express certainty that someone is regretful. The song was awarded the Billboard Latin Music Award in 1996 for "Hot Latin Track of the Year" in the Tropical/Salsa field and was nominated for the Tropical Song of the Year award at the 8th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards in the same year. It was a recipient of the ASCAP Latin Award in 1996. Commercially, the song peaked at number seven on the Hot Latin Songs chart and number one on the Tropical Airplay chart in the United States. It was the best-performing song of 1995 on the latter chart. The song was covered by Puerto Rican singer Ángel López as a ballad on his studio album Historias de Amor (2010). (Full article...)
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"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.
Born in New Jersey, Torres grew up in Puerto Rico before returning to the United States to attend Miami-Dade Community College. He was a track star at Miami-Dade and did not begin playing baseball until later. In 1998, he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. Torres played in their minor leagues until 2002, when he made his major league debut. In 2003, he got a chance to be the everyday center fielder for the Tigers, but after 23 games they chose to replace him. He played only three games for them in 2004 before he was outrighted to the minors and released upon request. In 2005, Torres resurfaced with the Texas Rangers but only appeared in eight games. He spent the next three years in the minor leagues. (Full article...)
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Daniel Santos (February 5, 1916 – November 27, 1992) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of boleros, and an overall performer of multiple Caribbean music genres, including guaracha, plena and rumba. Over the course of his career he adopted several names created by the public and became known as "El Jefe" and "El Inquieto Anacobero". (Full article...)
Escobar was born in Barceloneta and raised in San Juan. There he received his primary education and took interest in boxing. After gathering a record of 21–1–1 as an amateur, Escobar debuted as a professional in 1931 defeating Luis "Kid Dominican" Pérez by knockout. Early in his career, he moved to Venezuela due to the lack of opponents in his division. There he received an opportunity for the Venezuelan Bantamweight championship, but lost by points to Enrique Chaffardet. Subsequently, he moved to New York and began boxing in other states, eventually capturing the Montreal Athletic Commission World Bantamweight Title. In 1936, he defeated Tony Marino to unify this championship with the one recognized by the International Boxing Union, in the process becoming the third Latin American undisputed world boxing champion. After retiring, he worked as a spokesperson for beer companies in New York, before returning to Puerto Rico in the 1960s, where he resided until his death. He received several posthumous recognitions and his name was used in several sports venues and buildings. In 2002, Escobar was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. (Full article...)
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The 1985 Puerto Rico floods produced showers and thunderstorms across the island and 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 heavy rains 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...)
Milagros Benet de Mewton (néeBenet Colón; 22 November 1868 – 26 December 1948) was a Puerto Rican educator, women's rights advocate and suffragist. Born into an intellectual, liberal family, Benet trained as a teacher. Inhabitants of the island gained U.S. citizenship in 1917, two decades after the United States acquired Puerto Rico from Spain in the Spanish–American War. Benet was active in the struggle for women's enfranchisement and joined the first suffragist organization Liga Femínea Puertorriqueña that year. When U.S. women gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919, Benet led the push to extend its coverage to Puerto Rico. In 1924, she filed a lawsuit challenging the right of the electoral board to refuse to register women as they were U.S. citizens. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ruled that states and territories have the right to determine who can vote and denied her claim.
Benet continued pressing through the Liga Social Sufragista for the filing of various bills, which continued to be rejected by the insular legislature. In 1928, she pushed for the U.S. Congress to resolve the discrepancies in voting rights for women in Puerto Rico. Faced with the possibility that the federal legislature might give women the right to vote, the Puerto Rican legislature finally passed a law in 1929 granting suffrage to literate women. Universal suffrage, eliminating the educational restrictions, was gained in 1936. Benet is remembered for her work in education and for expanding women's rights in Puerto Rico. (Full article...)
The PRRWO aligned politically with various prominent communist organizations during the 1970s. At a conference hosted by the National Guardian, it announced the creation of a National Liaison Committee (NLC) consisting of members of the Revolutionary Union (RU), the Black Workers Congress (BWC), and I Wor Kuen (IWK), with the intention of forming a communist party. The PRRWO left the committee in 1974 amidst a conflict with the RU over its racial power dynamics. They then joined the National Continuations Committee (NCC), which was organized by the Communist League. In 1975, the PRRWO realigned itself once again, forming a "Revolutionary Wing" with the Revolutionary Workers League (RWL), the August 29th Movement, and an organization called Workers Viewpoint. This coalition also collapsed in 1975, and the PRRWO subsequently dissolved in 1976. (Full article...)
Suavemente (English: Smoothly) is the debut studio album by American merenguero recording artist Elvis Crespo. Released by Sony Music Latin on April 14, 1998, the album established Crespo as a leading artist in the Latin music market. He collaborated with several songwriters and record producers to create an overall tropical music-flavored recording.
With romantic ballads and uptempo songs, Suavemente received favorable reviews from music critics who found the recording to contain energetic and catchy tracks. The album was commercially successful; it became the first merengue recording to peak at number one on the United States BillboardTop Latin Albums chart. Suavemente peaked at number 106 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Two of its singles, "Suavemente" and "Tu Sonrisa", topped the U.S. BillboardHot Latin Songs chart; Crespo was recognized as becoming the first artist to have placed two merengue singles at number one. Suavemente was Crespo's commercial breakthrough, introducing him to the popular music market with the Spanglish remix of its title track. (Full article...)
A native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, Betancourt played youth football for Fraigcomar while attending the Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola. He made his senior debut at 15 years old, spending two seasons with High Performance FC followed by a year with Conquistadores de Guaynabo. He left his home island to attend college in the United States, spending two years with the men's soccer program at Valparaiso. After returning to Puerto Rico, Betancourt played the sport for four more years, splitting time between Bayamón and Metropolitan FA. He stepped away from the game in 2017, aged just 23. (Full article...)
The Arecibo Observatory is the world's largest single-aperture telescope ever constructed. The telescope's dish has a diameter of over 1,000 ft (305m) and covers over 18 acres. The receiver array is suspended 450 ft (150m) above the dish, supported by three concrete towers each measuring between 265 ft (80m) and 365 ft (110m).
January 19, 1985 - Death of Juan Antonio Corretjer, poet, journalist and independence political activist (b. 1908)
January 21, 1895 - Birth of Concha Meléndez, educator, poet, and writer (d. 1983)
January 22, 2002 - Death of Manuel Méndez Ballester, journalist, radio and television broadcaster, and teacher (b. 1909)
January 24, 1880 - Death of José Gautier Benítez, considered Puerto Rico's best poet of the Romantic Era (b. 1848)
January 27, 1975 - Birth of Iván Calderón, professional boxer
January 28, 2004 - Death of José Miguel Agrelot, Puerto Rican comedian, radio and television host and media icon known for his Don Cholito character (b. 1927)
... that Lt. General Pedro del Valle played an instrumental role in World War II when he and the Marines under his command defeated the Japanese forces in Okinawa and that he was in charge of the reorganization of the island?
... that the Commander of the Cuban Liberation Army, General Juan Ríus Rivera, was a Puerto Rican who also participated in the Grito de Lares revolt?
... that Brigadier General Antonio Valero de Bernabé "The Puerto Rican Liberator", who fought against Napoleon Bonaparte in Spain and later for Mexico's independence against Spain, helped liberate South America from Spanish Colonial rule alongside Simón Bolívar?
... that Sergeant First Class Agustín Ramos Calero born in Isabela, with 22 decorations was the most decorated Hispanic soldier in the United States military during World War II?
... that In 1980, Linda García Cubero, Class of 1980 United States Air Force Academy, was the first Hispanic woman to graduate from a military academy?[1]
Image 4Sugar 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 6Raising the US Flag over San Juan, October 18, 1898. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 7Los Reyes Magos painted by Hipolito Marte Martinez, "In Puerto Rico, Melchior is always represented with dark skin" (from Culture of Puerto Rico)
Image 9"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 10El Imparcial headline: "Aviation (US) bombs Utuado" during Nationalist revolts. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 11The first Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, established in 1900. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 13An 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 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 15Spanish Planter of Puerto Rico with House Slave, ca. 1808 (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 16Hurricanes Irma and Maria sharply reduced the availability of electricity throughout the island (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 18Flag flown by Fidel Vélez and his men during the "Intentona de Yauco" revolt. (from History of Puerto Rico)
Image 19The original Lares revolutionary flag. The first "Puerto Rican Flag" used in the unsuccessful Grito de Lares (Lares Uprising). (from History of Puerto Rico)
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