X-Nico

62 unusual facts about Puerto Rico


1958 Atlantic hurricane season

Two people drowned after falling off a boat on Vieques island, and the other died after his house collapsed while he was inside.

Accidents and incidents at John F. Kennedy International Airport

;19 October: An Eastern Airlines flight from Idlewild International Airport (the former name of JFK) to San Juan, Puerto Rico, operated by Lockheed L-749A Constellation N119A crashed on take-off.

Adolfo de Hostos

His most prominent publication is "Ciudad Murada", the history of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the United States' oldest city.

Alpha Kappa Pi

Alfa Kappa Pi - a professional fraternity with chapters in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico

Angel Mendez

Angel Mendez' parents — Antonio Méndez Pomales, a native of Fajardo and Martina Rivera García from Naguabo — moved from Puerto Rico to New York City seeking a better life.

Arthur Garfield Hays

In 1937, he headed an independent investigation of an incident in which 18 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Ponce, Puerto Rico when police fired at them; his commission concluded the police had behaved as a mob and committed a massacre.

In 1937, Hays was appointed to lead an independent investigation with a group (called the Hays Commission) to study an incident in which 18 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Ponce, Puerto Rico when police opened fire on them.

Assacumet

In 1606 Gorges sent an expedition to America under Capt. Henry Challoung (also known as Chalowns and Chalon), with Assacumet and Manida, to the West Indies and Puerto Rico.

Aurora Levins Morales

Levins Morales was born February 24, 1954 in Indiera Baja, Maricao, Puerto Rico.

Awards and decorations of the National Guard

The following is a list of National Guard decorations, as issued by each of the fifty United States; Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

Bahamas at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games

The XXIst Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico from July 17, 2010 to August 1, 2010.

Barrier transfer machine

Moveable barriers are in permanent use in such cities as Auckland (Auckland Harbour Bridge); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York; Honolulu, Hawaii; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; Dallas, Texas; San Diego, California; and Sydney, Australia; many other cities use them temporarily during construction work.

Camilo Delgado

Camilo Delgado, a Puerto Rican man, was born on May 29, 1927 and died peacefully in his sleep on February 8, 2005 at the age of 78 of natural causes.

Camp Las Casas

Camp Las Casas was established in Santurce under the command of Lt. Colonel Orval P. Townshend in 1904.

Canarian cuisine

This is the father to all mojos of Latin America, especially Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela, due to heavy Canarian emigration, and have also influenced the cuisines of the non-Hispanic Caribbean islands.

Carl Werntz

At the conclusion of the war he and his wife went to the Caribbean, - to Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

Cataño Ferry

While this was made mostly to enhance service between Culebra, Fajardo and Vieques, the deal also included the "Lancha de Cataño" service.

César Concepción

Concepción was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico, and was a noted composer of his time, writing music based on contemporary Puerto Rican scenes and vistas.

Come On Pilgrim

It includes two songs partly sung in Spanish (Vamos and Isla de Encanta) which drew upon some of Francis's experiences in Puerto Rico (Isla de Encanta is an alteration of the island's nickname, Isla del Encanto meaning Isle of Enchantment).

Costa Rica at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games

The XXIst Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico from July 17 to August 1, 2010.

Denisse Oller

She has been honored with five Emmy's, two Gracies from the American Women in Radio and Television association , and the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for journalism for her coverage of the exit of the United States Navy from the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico after 60 years of military occupation.

EGADE Business School

Since its creation, the school requires every applicant to achieve a minimum pass mark at its own academic aptitude test for postgraduate studies (Prueba de Admisión a Estudios de Posgrado, PAEP); an instrument designed and maintained by academics of the Institute (with some guidance provided by the technical director of The College Board office in Puerto Rico).

Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico

The Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico —or Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico (SEPR) in Spanish — is a mainline Protestant seminary in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico that offers graduate studies conducive to either a Master of Divinity or a Master of Arts in Religion.

Frank B. Willis

During his Senate tenure, Willis served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories and Insular Possessions, which had jurisdiction over territories including Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico, from 1923 to 1928.

Frank H. Brumby

Brumby commanded the Grey Fleet, assigned to defend against an amphibious assault by the Blue force commanded by Admiral Joseph M. Reeves, whose objective was to take one or all of Ponce, San Juan, Culebra and St. Thomas, and who finally succeeded in landing Marines on Culebra on the fifth and last day of the exercise.

Fredesvinda García

Fredesvinda García Valdés, known always as Freddy, (Camagüey 1935 – San Juan, Puerto Rico, 31 July 1961) was a Cuban female singer of high quality.

Giancarlo Alvarado

Giancarlo Carlos (Martinez) Alvarado (born January 24, 1978 in Santurce, Puerto Rico) is a professional baseball pitcher in the New York Mets organization.

Hally Wood

In '79-80 brought out a self-produced album "Songs to Live By" in Houston, and was beginning work on another in the mid-80s but was diagnosed with cancer; from late '50s thru early '70s lived in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico; did some work there helping produce concerts & other things this informant not familiar with.

Javier Antonio Colón

Colón dedicated the championship to the Mayor of Ponce Rafael Cordero Santiago, an avid fan of the team, who had died early that year.

Jon Bilbao

Juan Manuel Bilbao Azkarreta was born on October 31, 1914 in Cayey, Puerto Rico.

José Luis Moneró

Moneró was the father of four and was married for twenty years to the former Tere Haddock and was 89 at the time of his death in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

José Nadal Power

José Rafael Nadal Power was born in the district of Santurce, in San Juan on December 8, 1973.

José Oquendo

José Manuel Roberto Guillermo Oquendo Contreras (born July 4, 1963 in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico) is a former Major League Baseball infielder and the current third base coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Julio Aguilera

From that year until 1981, he stayed on the Caribbean island, working as a trainer in Santurce, until he was handpicked to co-develop in Venezuela Top Spa Gym at the time the most successful gym in Caracas, located in Las Mercedes sector of the city.

Leonard Porter Ayres

He began teaching in 1902 as one of the first to carry American ideas and methods to Puerto Rico.

Luiggy Llanos

Luiggy Llanos Cruz (born August 22, 1978 in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico) is a male decathlete from Puerto Rico.

Luis F Soto

Luis F Soto, born in Hatillo, Puerto Rico, is a Film and Television director working and living in Los Angeles, California.

Manela Bustamante

Manela Bustamante, born Manuela Bustamante (Havana, Cuba, November 14, 1924 – San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 12, 2005)

Manela Bustamante died a year later in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on February 12, 2005, and is survived by her only daughter, 2 grandsons and her public, who still remember with sincere affection the funny and witty Cuban “Cachucha” and Puerto Rican “Doña Toni”.

Manuel Olivieri Sanchez

Olivieri Sanchez was born in Yauco, Puerto Rico, when the island was still a Spanish possession.

Mapy Cortés

Mapy Cortés (March 1, 1910 – August 2, 1998), born Maria del Pilar Cordero in Santurce, Puerto Rico, was an actress who participated in many films during the Mexican film industry's golden era.

Maritime history of Colonial America

Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot on what would one day become U.S. territory when he came to Puerto Rico in 1493.

Mateo de Angulo

De Angulo helped out his Colombian team to take the trophy in the 800 m freestyle relay at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2014

The 59th Annual Miss Universe Puerto Rico pageant was held at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center, Santurce, Puerto Rico, on October 3, 2013 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Narciso Figueroa

Figueroa was the second of eight siblings born to Jesus Figueroa and Carmen Sanabria in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

New Wrestling Stars

NWS will relaunch on Sunday March 29, 2009 in Aguada, Puerto Rico at the All-Star Court and it was a great event with plans to hold more events and secure a TV deal.

Oliver Lanard Fassig

He was in charge of the station at San Juan, Puerto Rico, from April 2, 1909 to August 10, 1912, and April 14, 1919 to June 10, 1930, where he had general charge of the West Indian and Caribbean service.

Puerto Rican Quail-Dove

Remains of the Puerto Rican Quail-Dove were unearthed in the caves Cueva Clara and Cueva Catedral near Morovis, in the cave Cueva Toraño at Utuado and in a kitchen midden near Mayagüez on Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Highway 40

Puerto Rico Highway 40, or PR-40, is an urban road in Hato Rey.

Puerto Rico Highway 47

Puerto Rico Highway 47, also known as Calle de Diego, is an urban road in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.

Begins in the PR-3 (Avenida 65 de Infantería) and ends at the center of Río Piedras, in the Paseo de Diego (commercial area in downtown Río Piedras).

Puerto Rico Highway 52

It runs from PR-1 in southwest Río Piedras and heads south until it intersects with highway PR-2 in Ponce.

Rafael Ithier

Raised in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, he showed a passion for music at a very young age.

Randy Ruiz

Born in The Bronx, New York to parents from Santurce, Puerto Rico, he attended James Monroe High School, and played baseball under coach Mike Turo.

Robert Traylor

On May 11, 2011 Traylor was found dead at his apartment in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.

Senadores de San Juan

The team was sold in 2004 and subsequently relocated to Arecibo.

Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

In 1948, the Michigan congregation began its first missionary work outside the continental United States when the Sisters opened a mission in Cayey, Puerto Rico.

Thomas A. Davis

During the Spanish-American War he served as a Captain of the 6th US Volunteer Infantry, also known as the Sixth Immunes, which was mustered at Knoxville, Tennessee and saw service in Puerto Rico.

Tito Goya

Tito Goya (Real Name "Andrew Butler") (April 4, 1951 – December 1, 1985) was a Puerto Rican actor best known for his portrayal of "Cupcakes" in the movie "Short Eyes".

Tren Urbano

There is no service to Old San Juan, Santurce, the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (and many other parts of Guaynabo, Bayamón, and San Juan), and the Tren Urbano doesn't serve important suburbs like Cataño, Toa Baja, Toa Alta, Carolina, Trujillo Alto, Canóvanas and others, which helps to explain low ridership.

Vera Maxwell

Vera Huppe Maxwell (April 22, 1901, New York City – January 15, 1995, Rincón, Puerto Rico) was a sportswear and fashion designer until her retirement in 1985.

Wild 90

The Puerto Rico-born boxer José Torres appeared as the man with the barking dog and Beverley Bentley (Mailer’s wife) played the woman with the knife.


Aleksander Wolszczan

Working with Dale Frail, Wolszczan carried out astronomical observations from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico which led them to the discovery of the pulsar PSR B1257+12 in 1990.

Almost a Woman

Almost a Woman is a 2001 made-for-television film, directed by Betty Kaplan and based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Puerto Rican writer Esmeralda Santiago.

Andreas Seyfarth

Andreas Seyfarth (born November 6, 1962) is a German-style board game designer, who is most famous for creating Puerto Rico, which is rated #4 on BoardGameGeek.

Arawakan languages

Taíno, commonly called Island Arawak, was spoken on the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

Bertram Tracy Clayton

He resigned in 1888, intending to work as a civil engineer, but went on to serve with Troop C, New York Volunteer Cavalry (Brooklyn's Own) during the Spanish-American War in Puerto Rico, winning distinction.

Camden Children's Garden

The facility includes indoor attractions such as the Philadelphia Eagles Four Seasons Butterfly House, Plaza de Aibonito, a Puerto Rican tropical greenhouse exhibit, and Benjamin Franklin’s Secret Garden and Workshop.

Carlos M. García

Carlos M. García, born on June 25, 1971, is a Puerto Rican banker who served as president of the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank (GDB) from 2009 to 2011 during the administration of Governor Luis Fortuño.

Carmen Nydia Velázquez

Velázquez performed for a three month season at the Marriott Hotel, in Condado, San Juan Puerto Rico, (June–September) 2007, and the show was broadcast through WORO-TV, channel 13.

Ciudad Seva

Ciudad Seva is a web site founded on December 12, 1995, by Puerto Rican author Luis López Nieves.

Colonial troops

The regiment performed garrison and defense duties in Puerto Rico and the Panama Canal Zone during World War I and World War II and served with distinction during the Korean War before being transferred to the Puerto Rico National Guard in 1956.

Cottage pie

In the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico this is called pastelón de papa (potato casserole), it has a layer of potatoes, one or two of meat, and another of potatoes, topped with a layer of cheese.

Courier 1B

After completing its first orbit, a message from US President Dwight Eisenhower to the United Nations was transmitted from the Deal Test Site, an off-base transmission facility of Fort Monmouth, New Jersey and relayed to a ground station in Puerto Rico.

Creature from the Haunted Sea

The film was shot in Puerto Rico back-to-back with two other Corman productions, The Last Woman on Earth and Battle of Blood Island, from a script that had previously been filmed as Naked Paradise and Beast from Haunted Cave.

Donna Theodore

Donna Theodore (born July 25, 1941) is an American actress and singer who first came to attention as a headliner at many famous nightclubs during the 1960s including the Copacabana, The Fountainebleau Hotel, the Fairmont Hotel, and the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Emerson Esnal Hernández

He qualified for the 2010 Central American Games in Puerto Rico, but withdrew due to injury, and in the same year finished 24th in the 50 km racewalk at the World Cup in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Flor Meléndez

Although Meléndez would have probably been chosen to play on Puerto Rico's Liga de Baloncesto Superior (Puerto Rico's professional basketball league) he decided to pursue basketball as a future career, playing in the YMCA before entering the Puerto Rico's professional basketball league in 1965, with San Juan's squad.

Frank B. Davison

His great-grandson, Kenneth Davison McClintock, following in his political footsteps, serves as the current Secretary of State and lieutenant governor of Puerto Rico.

Greatest Hits: The Sound of Money

The song "Looking Through the Eyes of a Child" was covered by Puerto Rican singer Chayanne on his album Atado a Tu Amor, as "Soy como un niño" (Spanish for "I'm Like a Child")

Iñaki Mallona Txertudi

On December 14, 1991, he was appointed Bishop of Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

International Association of Wagner Societies

Wagner societies can be found in all parts of the world, including Venice, Great Britain, Shanghai, Tokyo, Lisbon, Melbourne, Adelaide, Ankara, New York, Toronto, Cape Town, Bangkok, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.

Jeremías

On June 5, 2004 Jeremías commenced a concert tour: "Tour La Cita 2004", with appearances in the Aula Magna of the Central University of Venezuela, in Caracas, and International, in Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Central America.

La Gran Fiesta

La Gran Fiesta (in English, The Great Party) is a 1985 Puerto Rican film, written and directed by Marcos Zurinaga, based on a story by Ana Lydia Vega.

Lee Nailon

His international experience includes playing for Adecco Milano in Italy (1999-00), Bnei HaSharon in Israel (2006–07; 2010–present), Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in Russia (2007–08), Al-Riyadi in Lebanon, Leones de Ponce (2009) and Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rico (2010).

Lucía Maya

Lucía Maya (born 1953 in Santa Catalina Island, California) is a Mexican painter, sculptor and lithographer whose work has been displayed at the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon and the Puerto Rico Museum of Contemporary Art.

María Simón

She also participated in the Venice Biennale (1972), Biennale of Tapestry in Lausanne, Biennials of Engraving at Ljubljana and in Puerto Rico, the First International Sculpture Street Exhibition in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and the Basel Fair.

Ming Fay

Fay has also completed numerous public art commissions including a suspended glass and steel sculpture for a residential lobby in Philadelphia, a large scale tree sculpture in Puerto Rico, sculptural benches for the New York City Staten Island Ferry Terminal and glass mosaic murals for the Delancey Street – Essex Street New York City subway station.

Nancy Fabiola Herrera

In the summer of 2006, Herrera performed in a gala concert with Plácido Domingo in Puerto Rico, sang Maddalena in Rigoletto with the Metropolitan Opera in Central Park, Charlotte in Werther in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Luisa Fernanda opposite Plácido Domingo at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

National Adoption Day

More than 300 events are held each year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving in November, in all 50 US states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to finalize the adoptions of children in foster care.

Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus

The Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus is an informal legislative organization created in 2007 by leaders of the Senates of the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawai'i and the United States territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Northern Marianas Islands.

Pan Am Flight 526A

Pan American World Airways Flight 526A, a Douglas DC-4, took off from San Juan-Isla Grande Airport, Puerto Rico, at 12:11 PM AST on April 11, 1952 on a flight to Idlewild International Airport, New York City with 64 passengers and five crew members on board.

Progress Island U.S.A.

The commercial short, which is only 13 minutes long, explains that Puerto Rico is "American in every respect" except for its "360 days of sunshine," due to the results of Operation Bootstrap.

Puerto Rico Highway 18

PR-18 is a freeway in Puerto Rico, which is also known as Expreso Las Américas. It runs from its north end in at its intersection with PR-22 (known as Expreso de Diego) in San Juan to its south end in Río Piedras where it intersects with PR-1.

Rebecca Wight

Rebecca Wight -- a student, of Iranian and Puerto Rican heritage, who was working on her Master's Degree in Business Administration -- and 32-year-old Claudia Brenner -- a Jewish, Manhattan-born architecture student -- were partners for two years, after meeting over breakfast while both were students at Virginia Tech.

Rob Cordemans

During the first round of the tournament held at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Cordemans entered two separate games against the Dominican Republic in middle relief.

Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Sunset Park's second age began with a wave of immigration from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador, as well as other Latin American countries.

Systemax

On January 6, 2008, Systemax Inc. announced an agreement on the acquisition of the Miami-based CompUSA brand, trademarks, and e-commerce business, and as many as 16 CompUSA retail outlets in Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico.

Walter McJones

Walter McJones (born: Walter Mc Kown Jones) (May 22, 1883 - January 10, 1944) founded the municipality of Villalba in Puerto Rico and was the first Mayor of Villalba between 1917 and 1919.

WIVV

Licensed to Vieques, Puerto Rico, it serves part of Puerto Rico, large areas of the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and the Lesser Antilles.