Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Puerto Rico portal. v. t. e. Map of the departments of Puerto Rico during Spanish provincial times (1886). The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people before 430 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus 's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taíno.
The United States added English-language influence, the university system and the adoption of some holidays and practices. On 12 March 1903, the University of Puerto Rico was officially founded, branching out from the "Escuela Normal Industrial", a smaller organization that was founded in Fajardo three years earlier.
The first Spanish settlement, Caparra, was founded on 8 August 1508 by Juan Ponce de León, a lieutenant under Columbus, who later became the first governor of the island. [5] The following year the settlement was abandoned in favor of a nearby islet on the coast, named Borinquen, which had a suitable harbor.
Juan Ponce de León (/ ˌ p ɒ n s d ə ˈ l iː ə n /, [2] also UK: / ˌ p ɒ n s eɪ d ə l eɪ ˈ ɒ n /, [3] US: / ˌ p ɒ n s d ə l i ˈ oʊ n, ˌ p ɒ n s (ə) d eɪ-/, [4] [5] Spanish: [ˈxwan ˈponθe ðe leˈon]; 1474 – July 1521 [6]) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador known for leading the first official European expedition to Puerto Rico in 1508 and Florida in 1513.
In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the original Spanish settlement in Puerto Rico at Caparra, named after the abandoned ancient Roman village of Cáparra in the province of Cáceres, Spain, the birthplace of then-governor of Spain's Caribbean territories Nicolás de Ovando., [3] Today it is known as the Pueblo Viejo barrio of Guaynabo, just to the west of the present San Juan metropolitan area.
In 1868, the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) took place, in which revolutionaries occupied the town of Lares and declared the independence of the Republic of Puerto Rico on September 23, 1868. Ramón Emeterio Betances was the leader of this revolt. Earlier, Segundo Ruiz Belvis and Betances had founded the Comité Revolucionario de Puerto Rico ...
Rooster fighting is a sport that has been part of the Puerto Rican culture for centuries. In 1845, Manuel Alonso, in his book El Gíbaro, wrote that maybe a barrio could lack a church, but no barrio of Puerto Rico lacked a cockfighting venue. The sport was passed in families, from generation to generation.
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territorial possession of the United States acquired in 1898 following the Spanish–American War, making it "the oldest colony in the modern world". [1] [a] As of 2023, the population of Puerto Rico is 3.2 million, around half the average state population and higher than that of 19 U.S. states.