1.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
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San Juan is the capital and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States, San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricos capital is the second oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, today, San Juan is Puerto Ricos most important seaport, and is the islands manufacturing, financial, cultural, and tourism center. San Juan is also a city of the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the settlement which he called Caparra. In 1521, the settlement was given its formal name. On the other hand, the name for the island became the name for the city only after the occupation of the island by the United States. San Juan, as a settlement of the Spanish Empire, was used by merchant, because of its prominence in the Caribbean, a network of fortifications was built to protect the transports of gold and silver from the New World to Europe. Because of the cargoes, San Juan became a target of the foreign powers of the time. The city was witness to attacks from the English led by Sir Francis Drake in 1595 and by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, artillery from San Juans fort, El Morro, repelled Drake, however, Clifford managed to land troops and lay siege to the city. After a few months of English occupation, Clifford was forced to abandon the siege when his troops began to suffer from exhaustion, in 1625 the city was sacked by Dutch forces led by Captain Balduino Enrico, but El Morro withstood the assault and was not taken. The Dutch were counterattacked by Captain Juan de Amezquita and 50 members of the militia on land. The land battle left 60 Dutch soldiers dead and Enrico with a wound to his neck which he received from the hands of Amezquita. The Dutch ships at sea were boarded by Puerto Ricans who defeated those aboard, after a long battle, the Spanish soldiers and volunteers of the citys militia were able to defend the city from the attack and save the island from an invasion. On October 21, Enrico set La Fortaleza and the city ablaze, captains Amezquita and Andre Botello decided to put a stop to the destruction and led 200 men in an attack against the enemys front and rear guard. They drove Enrico and his men from their trenches and into the ocean in their haste to reach their ships, the British attack in 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, led by Sir Ralph Abercromby. His army laid siege to the city but was forced to withdraw in defeat as the Puerto Rican defenses proved more resilient than those of Trinidad. The USS Yale captured a Spanish freighter, the Rita in San Juan Bay, on May 9, Yale fought a brief battle with an auxiliary cruiser of Spain, name unknown, resulting in a Spanish victory
2.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Rafael Carmoega
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Rafael Carmoega Morales was a Puerto Rican architect from Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. He was the first Puerto Rican to become State Architect, a position within the Department of the Interior which he held from 1921 to 1936, Carmoega was one of the most established Puerto Rican architects of the 20th century. Rafael Carmoega Morales was born in Ponce in 1894, a 1918 graduate of the Cornell University School of Architecture and subsequent director of the Architectural division of Puerto Ricos Department of the Interior. He was the first Puerto Rican to become State Architect, a position within the Department of the Interior which he held from 1921 to 1936. In 1936 he went to work for the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration where he designed the University of Puerto Rico based on the Parsons Plan of 1924, in 1937 he established a private practice, which was characterized by eclecticism, and a varied mix of architectural styles. Among Carmoegas works are Mercado de las Carnes in Ponce, the Plaza de los Perros in Ponce is a fine example of this latter style, incorporating glazed mosaics, horseshoe arches, and galleries in a mosque-like space for commercial usage. Carmoega died in San Juan in 1968, the Architecture and Construction Archives at the University of Puerto Rico holds the Rafael Carmoega collection. Approximately 48 cubic feet in size, the collection contains drawings, photographs, artifacts, textual documents. The Architectural Drawing Series holds 144 projects organized chronologically, the collection was donated by Mrs. Carmoega, widow of Ramírez, Ms. Margarita Higuera and architect Antonio Higuera in 1989
5.
Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and briefly called Porto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea. It is an archipelago that includes the island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller ones such as Mona, Culebra. The capital and most populous city is San Juan and its official languages are Spanish and English, though Spanish predominates. The islands population is approximately 3.4 million, Puerto Ricos rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine, and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for travelers from around the world. Four centuries of Spanish colonial government transformed the ethnic, cultural and physical landscapes primarily with waves of African captives, and Canarian. In the Spanish imperial imagination, Puerto Rico played a secondary, in 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States appropriated Puerto Rico together with most former Spanish colonies under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States, however, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. As a U. S. territory, American citizens residing on the island are disenfranchised at the level and may not vote for president. However, Congress approved a constitution, allowing U. S. citizens on the territory to elect a governor. A fifth referendum will be held in June 2017, with only Statehood, in early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government. The outstanding bond debt that had climbed to $70 billion or $12,000 per capita at a time with 12. 4% unemployment, the debt had been increasing during a decade long recession. Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen – a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, the terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also known in Spanish as la isla del encanto. Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city. The islands name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the anglicized name was used by the US government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila in 1931, the ancient history of the archipelago known today as Puerto Rico is not well known. The scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts from the colonial era constitute the basis of knowledge about them. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, the first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland
6.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
7.
Old San Juan
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Old San Juan is the oldest settlement within Puerto Rico and the historic colonial section of the city of San Juan. The settlement is a National Historic Landmark District and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Zona Histórica de San Juan. Old San Juan is located on a small and narrow island which lies along the north coast, about 35 miles from the east end of Puerto Rico, and is united to the mainland of Puerto Rico by three bridges. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and to the south by San Juan Bay —which lies between the city and the mainland. On a bluff about 100 feet high at the west end of the island and commanding the entrance to the harbor, rise the battlements of Fort San Felipe del Morro, in which there is a lighthouse. The city is characterized by its narrow, blue cobblestone streets, near Fort San Felipe del Morro, is the Casa Blanca, a palace built on land which belonged to the family of Ponce de Leon. In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the original settlement, the ruins of Caparra are known as the Pueblo Viejo sector of Guaynabo, behind the almost land-locked harbor just to the west of the present San Juan metropolitan area. Constructed in 1521, Casa Blanca served as the first fortification of the settlement and residence of Juan Ponce de León descendants, prior to the 19th century, the area outside the city walls occupying the east side of Old San Juan Island, was almost uninhabited. In 1838 the so-called area of Puerta de Tierra had a population of 168 residents, according to a census made in 1846, the population had risen to 223 inhabitants living in 58 houses. On May 28,1897, the demolition was officially started after a proclamation was issued by Queen Maria Christina. By the year 1899, the population of Puerta de Tierra had risen to 5,453, during the late 1940s, disrepair in the old city was evident. The local authorities were considering development proposals for renovating the old city, anthropologist Ricardo Alegría vehemently advised against the idea of razing old colonial buildings in favor of contemporary building designs. He followed the example suggested by his father, a civic leader who had successfully prevented the demolition of the Capilla del Cristo in favor of a traffic redesign. He advised mayor Rincón de Gautier in having local zoning laws changed to favor remodeling and this helped preserve the citys architectural profile, and has been a key to San Juans current status as a tourist destination. At the time, most real estate in Old San Juan had devalued under appraised values because the city was perceived as unsafe and not profitable for business. Under combined efforts by the institute and the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, the Bank provided low interest loans to remodelers, and the government gave triple tax exemptions to commercial activities in the old city. Potential developers were offered sketches of their properties after a remodeling and these efforts, however, did not prevent some city blocks from being razed. Strict remodeling codes were implemented to prevent new constructions from affecting the common colonial Spanish architectural themes of the old city, there was a strong push to develop Old San Juan as a small Manhattan
8.
Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico
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The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, responsible for the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico. Eleven members of each house are elected at-large rather than from a legislative district with all members being elected for a four-year term without term limits. The structure and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly are defined in Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico which vests all legislative power in the Legislative Assembly, every bill must be passed by both houses and signed by the Governor of Puerto Rico to become law. Each house has its unique powers, the constitution also states that each house shall be the unique judge on the legal capacity of its members. The constitution also grants immunity to all elected members of the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly convenes at the Capitol in San Juan, the House of Representatives is the oldest legislative body in Puerto Rico. It was formed on November 25,1897, when the Spanish government of Prime Minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta granted autonomy to the island, creating a House that was composed of 32 members. After Puerto Rico was granted to the United States on July 25,1898 as part of the Spanish–American War and this was until April 12,1900 when the U. S. Congress approved the first civil government for Puerto Rico under the federal Foraker Act. S. President, and six sitting members consisting of the governors cabinet, the political arrangement under the Foraker Act continued until 1917. Puerto Rico was then divided into 7 senatorial districts and 35 representative districts, the first Puerto Rican Senate was elected in July 1917. With the approval by U. S. Congress in July 1950 of Public Law 600, two years later on July 25,1952 the Constitution of Puerto Rico was formally adopted, establishing the modern House of Representantes and Senate as the bicameral houses of the Legislative Assembly. The Constitution of Puerto Rico vests all legislative powers in the Legislative Assembly, each house has the sole power to by the judge of the legal capacities of its members. The members of houses are protected by parliamentary immunity, which Article III, Section 14 states no member of the Legislative Assembly shall be imprisoned. They also shall not be accountable for anything said in the floor. Each House holds exclusive powers that are not given to the other, the House of Representatives has the exclusive power to initiate an impeachment process and the Senate the exclusive power to pass judgement. All laws dealing with the budget or taxes must originate in the House of Representatives. The Senate retains the power to extend its consent to appointments to government offices made by the governor as stated by law or Constitution. The Legislative Assembly, with the consent of two-thirds of each chamber may propose amendments to the constitution, proposed amendments are then subject to approval by the people of Puerto Rico in a referendum
9.
House of Representatives of Puerto Rico
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The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico, the structure and responsibilities of the House are defined in Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico, which vests all legislative power in the Legislative Assembly. Every bill must be passed by the Senate and by the House, the House has exclusive power to initiate impeachments and bring an indictment. Financially, all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House, the House has been meeting since 1900, after the enactment of the Foraker Act established the body formally. The House of Delegates was controlled by the Republican Party from its creation in 1900 through 1904, in January 1905, the House switched to control by the Union Party, which would remain in power until 1924. A coalition of the Republican Party and Socialist Party of Puerto Rico controlled the House until 1944, Ángel Viera Martínez, a former prosecutor and freshman representative from San Juan, was elected to the first of three stints as Speaker. In 1973, the Popular Democratic Party reacquired control of the House but was ousted as the majority party in the 1976 elections, Viera Martínez was elected in 1977, to his second stint as Speaker. Since the new House in 1981 was tied, it was unable to elect a Speaker, as required, during Bernazards incumbency, he appointed co-chairs to the House standing committees and required that all House decisions and legislation be approved by consensus. Hernandezs Speaker pro Tempore, Edison Misla Aldarondo, became Speaker in 1997, after he left office in 2000, he was convicted of corruption charges in federal and state courts. He was succeeded in office by Carlos Vizcarrondo during the 2001–2004 term, aponte was defeated for re-election as Speaker in the House caucus held after the 2008 general elections, and Jenniffer A. González Colón became the Speaker, taking office on January 12,2009. The current Speaker, as of 2017, is Carlos Johnny Méndez, the House of Representatives, along with the Senate of Puerto Rico, are in charge of the legislative power of the Government of Puerto Rico. The House has exclusive power to initiate impeachment proceedings and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the number of members of which it is composed. The Constitution also establishes that all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House, the appointment of the Secretary of State shall in addition require the advice and consent of the House. The last election was held on November 6,2012 where the members of the 29th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico were elected, the next election is scheduled for November 8,2016 where the members of the 30th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico will be elected. Members of the House are elected for a four-years term, citizens cast their votes in colleges which are simply usually the nearest public school to where the voter declared as residence. Votes are required by law to be cast in secret, unless the citizen has a physical impairment that does not allow him to and those citizens unable to travel to colleges due to medical impairments may vote at their place of residence or wherever they are convalescing. Ballots are redacted in both English and Spanish regardless of whether English is a language or not. To elect the members of the House, Puerto Rico is divided into forty representative districts that do not follow a particular pattern and these districts are in turn divided into one or more precincts, an electoral division which, in turn, is constituted by colleges
10.
Senate of Puerto Rico
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The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, the structure and responsibilities of the Senate are defined in Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico which vests all legislative power in the Legislative Assembly. Every bill must be passed by both, the Senate and the House, and signed by the Governor of Puerto Rico in order to become law, the Senate has exclusive power to try and to decide impeachments. Justices of the Supreme Court can not assume office until after confirmation by the Senate, the Senate has been meeting since 1917, after the enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act established the body formally. Barceló Building, the Luis A. Ferré Building, the Ramón Mellado Parsons Office Building, the Senate of Puerto Rico was established in 1917, after the signing of the Jones Act. Signed in March 2,1917, the act made Puerto Ricans into U. S. citizens and this came to amend and improve the Foraker Act, signed in 1900, which granted limited administrative and executive powers to Puerto Ricans. From 1900 to 1917, Puerto Ricans made several attempts to convince the United States into amending the Foraker Act, in February 1914, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Rivera presented legislation in Congress insisting in the creation of a Puerto Rican Senate with more powers. Finally, in January 1916, Representative William Jones presented the Jones Act for Puerto Rico and it was signed by Woodrow Wilson on March 2,1917. In August 13,1917, the first Senate of Puerto Rico was sworn in, antonio R. Barceló was chosen as its first President, with Eduardo Georgetti as his Pro tempore. Also, José Muñoz Rivera and Manuel Palacios Salazar were selected as Secretary, in this first instance, the Senate was composed of 19 members,14 of which were chosen from each of the seven senatorial districts, and five elected at-large. The Senate, along with the House of Representatives, are in charge of the power of the Government of Puerto Rico. The Senate has exclusive power to try and to decide impeachment cases, and in meeting for such purposes, the Constitution also establishes that all Secretaries appointed by the Governor to the different executive departments, as well as all judges, require the advice and consent of the Senate. Justices of the Supreme Court can not assume office until after confirmation by the Senate, the last election was held on November 6,2012 where the members of the 25th Senate of Puerto Rico were elected. The next election is scheduled for November 8,2016 where the members of the 26th Senate of Puerto Rico will be elected, members of the Senate are elected for a four-years term. Tony Fas Alzamora is the most senior and longest-serving senator, having served for nine consecutive terms since 1981 for a total of 36 years, citizens cast their votes in colleges which are simply usually the nearest public school to where the voter declared as residence. Votes are required by law to be cast in secret, unless the citizen has a physical impairment that does not allow him to and those citizens unable to travel to colleges due to medical impairments may vote at their place of residence or wherever they are convalescing. Ballots are redacted in both Spanish and English, regardless of whether English is a language or not. For each district, citizens may vote only for the district in which they have declared their residence, the two candidates with the highest votes in the respective district serve as senators for that specific district
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