• Hispanic Heritage Month
    September 15 - October 15
     
    Online Resources for Hispanic Heritage Month
     
     
     
    Common Words with Spanish Origins:

    Alligator: el lagarto, the lizard
    Booby: bobo, silly or selfish, from the Latin for stammering, balbus
    Bronco: meaning wild or rough
    Cafeteria: cafetería, a coffee shop
    Cargo: cargar, to load
    Cigar, Cigarette: cigarro

    Cities: El Paso, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Pueblo, Colorado; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; San Jose, California; and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
    Comrade: camarada, old Spanish for barracks company or roommate
    Guerrilla: a small raiding party or fighting force
    Hoosegow: from juzgado, a tribunal or courtroom, past participle of juzgar, to judge
    Mustang: mestengo or mesteño, a stray animal
    Patio: courtyard in Spanish
    Peccadillo: a form of pecado, to sin
    Renegade: renegado, deserter or outlaw
    Savvy: saber, to know
    States:  Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Montana

    Tornado: tornar, to turn, tronada, thunderstorm
    Vamoose: vamos, let's go

     
     
    Famous Firsts by Hispanic Americans:
     

    Government

    U.S. Member of Congress:Joseph Marion Hernández, 1822.

    Romualdo Pacheco, a representative from California, was elected in 1876.

    U.S. Treasurer: Romana Acosta Bañuelos, 1971–1974.

    U.S. cabinet member: Lauro F. Cavazos, 1988–1990, Secretary of Education.

    U.S. Surgeon General: Antonia Coello Novello, 1990–1993. She was also the first woman ever to hold the position.

    U.S. Secretary of Transportation: Federico Peña, 1993.

    U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Henry Cisneros, 1993.

    U.S. Attorney General: Alberto Gonzales, 2005.

    Supreme Court Justice: Sonia Sotomayor, 2009


    Military

    Flying ace: Col. Manuel J. Fernández, Jr., who flew 125 combat missions in the Korean War.

    Medal of Honor recipient: Philip Bazaar, Congressional Medal of Honor in 1865.

    Admiral, U.S. Navy: David G. Farragut. In 1866, he became the first U.S. naval officer ever to be awarded the rank of admiral. The first Hispanic American to become a four-star admiral was Horacio Rivero of Puerto Rico, in 1964.

    General, U.S. Army: Richard E. Cavazos, 1976. In 1982, he became the army's first Hispanic four-star general.

    Secretary of the Navy: Edward Hidalgo, 1979.

    Science and Medicine

    Astronaut: Franklin Chang-Dìaz, 1986. He flew on a total of seven space-shuttle missions. 

    First female Hispanic astronaut was Ellen Ochoa, 1991.

    Nobel Prize in Physics: Luiz Walter Alvarez, 1968, for discoveries about subatomic particles. 

    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Severo Ochoa, 1959, for the synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA).


    Literature

    Novel in English, written and published in U.S.: María Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Who Would Have Thought It? (1872). She's better known for her 1885 second novel, The Squatter and the Don.

    Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Oscar Hijuelos, 1990, for his novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.

    Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Nilo Cruz, 2003, for his play Anna in the Tropics.


    Music

    Opera diva: Lucrezia Bori, who debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1912.

    Rock star: Ritchie Valens, 1958.

    Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee: Carlos Santana, 1998.


    Film

    Oscar, Best Actor: José Ferrer, 1950, Cyrano de Bergerac.

    Oscar, Best Supporting Actress: Rita Moreno, 1961, West Side Story.

    Oscar, Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Quinn, 1952, Viva Zapata!.

    Hollywood director: Raoul Walsh, 1914, The Life of General Villa.

    Matinee idol: Ramón Navarro, 1923, The Prisoner of Zenda.

    Leading lady: Dolores del Río, 1925, Joanne.

    Drama

    Tony, Best Director: José Quintero, 1973.

    Tony, Best Supporting Actress: Rita Moreno, 1975, The Ritz. In 1977, Moreno became the first Hispanic American (and the second person ever) to have won an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony, and an Emmy, picking up the last of those for her performance as guest host on The Muppet Show.


    Television

    Star of a network television show: Desi Arnaz, 1952, I Love Lucy.

    Broadcaster of the Year: Geraldo Rivera, 1971.


    Baseball

    Major league player: Esteban Bellán, 1871, Troy Haymakers.

    World Series player: Adolfo “Dolf” Luque, 1919, relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, against the infamous “Black Sox.” (He later pitched for the New York Giants in the 1933 Series and was credited with the win in the final game.)

    All-Star Game player: Alfonso “Chico” Carrasquel, 1951, starting shortstop for the American League.

    Rookie of the Year: Luis Aparicio, 1956, shortstop, Chicago White Sox.

    No-hitter: Juan Marichal, June 15, 1963, for the San Francisco Giants, against the Houston Colt .45s.

    Hall of Fame inductee: Roberto Clemente, 1973. He was also the first Hispanic player to serve on the Players Association Board and to reach 3,000 hits.

    Team owner: Arturo “Arte” Moreno bought the Anaheim Angels in 2003, becoming the first Hispanic owner of any major U.S. sports franchise. In 2005, he renamed it the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.


    Football

    NFL player: Ignacio “Lou” Molinet, 1927.

    NFL draft pick: Joe Aguirre, 1941.

    Starting NFL quarterback: Tom Flores, 1960.

    #1 NFL draft pick: Jim Plunkett, 1971.

    Football Hall of Fame inductee: Tom Fears, 1970. He also became the first Hispanic-American head coach in 1967.


    Other Sports

    Grand Slam championship winner: Richard “Pancho” González, 1948.

    LPGA Hall of Fame inductee: Nancy López, 1987. In 1978, she became the first player to have won the Rookie of the Year Award, Player of the Year Award, and Vare Trophy in the same season.

    Heavyweight boxing champ: John Ruiz, 2001, defeating Evander Holyfield.

    NHL 1st-round draft pick: Scott Gomez, 1998.

     
      Fun Facts:
    • The projected Hispanic population of the United States will constitute 30% of the nation’s population by July 1, 2050.
    • 48% of the Hispanic-origin population lives in California or Texas.
    • Five Latin American countries celebrate their independence on September 15:  Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
    • The Spanish founded the State of South Carolina in 1526.
    • The burglar alarm was patented by Albert Silva in 1875.
    • Hispanics introduced the cowboy and his hat, boots, lassoes, chaps, spurs, saddle, cattle, rodeos, ranches, and even the horse to the North American continent.
    • The $ symbol was taken from the pillars of the Spanish Imperial Coat of Arms and in 1775 the United States adopted the "Spanish Dollar" as the basic monetary system.  
    • The first Thanksgiving happened 23 years before the Pilgrims arrived, when the Don Juan de Onate exploration arrived in El Paso after a treacherous trip from Mexico.  
    • Alfonso Alvarez Blade invented the Safety Razor in 1911.
    • Rita Moreno is the only entertainer to have won an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Awards.
    • The yellow veil of mustard blossoms you often see on the roadside grew from the seeds scattered by Spanish soldiers and friars to mark a trail.
     
     
     
     
     
Last Modified on October 2, 2024