Portal:Puerto Rico/Did you know entries/11

History topics

The flag being removed from a building

• ... that after the Spanish–American War and up to 1904, Puerto Ricans were considered as "aliens" in the United States?
• ... that the public display of the Puerto Rican Flag was once considered a felony (from 1892 to 1954) and that anyone who did so could end up in jail?
• ... that in 1906, Theodore Roosevelt, the first US President to travel outside the United States, made a stop in Puerto Rico (thus, becoming the first president to visit the island) and that he stayed overnight in Ponce?
• ... that in 1914, the Revenue Cutter USS Algonquin (1897), which was stationed in the Caribbean, set sail with a crew of fifteen Hispanic-Americans (a fourth of the cutter's complement) to San Juan, Puerto Rico to assist the Puerto Ricans battling fires that threatened to destroy parts of that city? In 1915, the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico, paid tribute to the crew of the cutter Algonquin and presented them with an Official Resolution of Thanks.
• ... that Fort San Felipe del Morro was designated a World Heritage Site (a list that includes sites such as the Taj Mahal) by the United Nations in 1983, and a National Historical site by the United States?
• ... that Puerto Rico has never had a civil war?
• ... that even though Puerto Rico has never been an independent country, there is a Puerto Rican citizenship? Puerto Rican citizenship was first legislated by the U.S. Congress in Article 7 of the Foraker Act of 1900 and later recognized by the Puerto Rican constitution.
• ... that on October 29, 1950, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolted against US rule in Puerto Rico and that uprisings were held in various cities and towns in the island in what is known as the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts of the 1950s?
• ... that in 1948, Luis Muñoz Marín presided over the Puerto Rican legislature which was controlled by the PPD and that they approved the infamous "Ley de la Mordaza" known as Puerto Rico's Gag Law and that it became law with the signature of the United States-appointed governor Jesús T. Piñero? Did you also know that the law made it a crime to own or display a Puerto Rican flag, to sing a patriotic tune, to speak or write of independence, or to meet with anyone, or hold any assembly, with regard to the political status of Puerto Rico, violating the First Amendment of the US Constitution?
• ... that according to the United States Supreme Court, Puerto Rico belongs to but is not part of the United States?