The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the archipelago of Puerto Rico by the Ortoiroid people, sometime between 3000–2000 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taíno culture died out during the latter half of the 16th century because of exploitation, war and diseases brought by the Spanish. Puerto Rico was the key to the Spanish Empire from the early years of the exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World. The smallest of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico was a major military post during many wars between Spain and other European powers for control of the region during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the United States. The first half of the 20th century was marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the United States. The Foraker Act of 1900, which established a civil government, and the Jones Act of 1917, which granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship, paved the way for the drafting of Puerto Rico's Constitution and the establishment of democratic elections in 1952. However, the political status of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth controlled by the U.S., remains an anomaly, more than 500 years after the first Europeans settled the island.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Puerto_Rico

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1812: The United States declared war against the United Kingdom, officially beginning the War of 1812. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812)

1815: Napoléon Bonaparte fought and lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo)

1858: Charles Darwin received a manuscript by Alfred Russel Wallace on evolution, which prompted him to publish his theory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace)

1940: World War II: Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French Forces, makes an appeal to the French people following the fall of France to Nazi Germany, rallying them to support the Resistance. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_of_18_June)

1979: The United States and the Soviet Union signed the SALT II treaty, placing specific limits on each side's stock of nuclear weapons. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_of_18_June)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

The day after Columbine, I was interviewed... The reporter had been assigned a theory and was seeking sound bites to support it. "Wouldn't you say," she asked, "that killings like this are influenced by violent movies?" No, I said, I wouldn't say that... The reporter looked disappointed, so I offered her my theory. "Events like this," I said, "if they are influenced by anything, are influenced by news programs like your own. When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. Cable news drops ordinary programming and goes around the clock with it. The story is assigned a logo and a theme song ... The message is clear to other disturbed kids around the country: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous..." -- Roger Ebert (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert)