DID YOU KNOW THAT...? Did you know that... the restaurant of a Spanish priest served the first "tapas" in the U.S.? Father Luis de Lezama opened his Taberna del Alabardero in Washington D.C. on March 27, 1989. Since then, the restaurant has offered an excellent selection of Spanish “tapas” and has appeared in “The Washingtonian,” “Gourmet,” and “The New York Times.” (Published in Época, November 2-8, 2007) Did you know that... Spanish scientists worked with NASA to look for life on Mars? Thirty scientists from NASA and the Spanish Center for Astrobiology carried out research near the source of the Tinto River in Huelva from 2003 to 2006. The Mars Analog Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE) included drilling and analyzing samples of the subsurface waters of the river, simulating the conditions of a Mars mission in order to develop the platform that will carry out the same functions on Mars. (Published in Alba, October 26-November 1, 2007) Did you know that... the greatest authority on cardiovascular research in the U.S. is a Spanish scientist? Dr. Valentín Fuster has been carrying out research at several US hospitals for more than twenty years. He currently leads the heart research team at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and is the president of the World Heart Federation, a former member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Advisory Council, and a past president of the American Heart Association. He is also the President of the scientific advisory committee at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research. (Published in Alba, October 19-25, 2007) Did you know that... Joseph Pilates met his future wife Clara in the ship that took him to the U.S.? His friends persuaded him to emigrate to America. During the transoceanic trip the creator of the popular Pilates method met Clara. It seems that she suffered from arthritis and he looked after her during the trip. They got married as soon as they arrived in New York, where they opened a business and started to promote their fitness training method. (Published in Época, October 12-18, 2007) Did you know that... the first European woman who gave birth in the US came from Spain? The first son of Europeans who was born in the US was the son of a Spanish woman who was traveling in the Vázquez de Coronado expedition in 1540. A few years later, in 1566, Martín de Argüelles came to the world in Saint Augustine, Florida, twenty one years before Virginia Dare did in the English colony of Roanoke, Virginia. (Published in Alba, June 29-July 5, 2007) Did you know that... Spaniards "build castles in the air" and Americans "in Spain"? According to a Spanish saying, the one who has a daydream and indulges in an overly brilliant, illusory future “builds castles in the air”. For Americans, this takes place in a more specific place: Spain, since on the other side of the Atlantic the saying goes “to build a castle in Spain.” (Published in Época, June 29-July 5, 2007) Did you know that... four Spanish films have won an Oscar for best foreign language film? The first Spanish film to win an Oscar for best foreign language film was To Begin Again, directed by José Luis Garci, in 1982. After that, winners included Belle Epoque, by Fernando Trueba, in 1993; All About My Mother, by Pedro Almodóvar, in 1999; and The Sea Inside, by Alejandro Amenábar, in 2004. La venganza, by Juan A. Bardem, was the first Spanish nominee for the same award, in 1958. (Published in Alba, June 22-28, 2007) Did you know that... the first refrigerator was invented in the USA? The American Oliver Evans designed the first refrigeration machine in 1805, although the first really useful device of this kind was developed by Jacob Perkins in 1834. Ten years later, and following Evans model, physician John Gorrie constructed a machine to make ice for cooling the rooms of yellow fever patients. (Published in Época, June 22-28, 2007) Did you know that... Mark Twain was inspired by Don Quixote? The great US writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by the pseudonym Mark Twain (1835-1910), read and admired the novel by Cervantes. He was inspired by the Cervantes’ characters of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza when he crafted the main characters of his works The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (Published in Alba, June 15-21, 2007) Did you know that... the Tooth Fairy visits children in the US? The Tooth Fairy in the US completes the same role as Little Mouse Pérez in Spain when children lose their baby teeth, according to the experts who have studied the phenomenon of the Tooth Fairy since the beginning of 20th century. Several surveys show that the Tooth Fairy offers more and more money to the children of the house. According to a 2006 survey, each time a child loses a baby tooth, the Tooth Fairy rewards the child with an average of two dollars. (Published in Época, June 15-21, 2007) Did you know that... Thomas Jefferson valued the Spanish language greatly? In 1787, the third President of the United States recommended his nephew Peter Carr study Spanish. “Bestow great attention on this, and endeavor to acquire an accurate knowledge of it. Our future connections with Spain and Spanish America, will render that language a valuable acquisition. The ancient history of that part of America, too, is written in that language. I send you a dictionary.” (Published in Alba, June 8-14, 2007) Did you know that... the device that inspired the mop was invented in teh US? The mop was inspired by a device patented by the American Thomas W. Stewart in Detroit, Michigan on June 13, 1893. The invention was composed of a long stick with a cloth at its end that was replaceable. It could be wrung out in a bucket with rollers. It was revolutionary because people could stand to wash their floors and the cloth part was replaceable. (Published in Época, June 1-7, 2007) Did you know that... bullfights were already held in the US four centuries ago? The first one was held in San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico on September 18, 1598. It was organized by Juan de Oñate (1550-1626) to celebrate the foundation of the first Spanish settlement on the territory that would become the US. This settlement was established nine years before the first English settlement, founded in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Jamestown marks its 400th anniversary this year. (Published in Alba, June 1-7, 2007) Did you know that... a Spaniard named the Alcatraz island, famous for the prison founded there? Victor Lustig spent many years in the Alcatraz prison, established on the famous, small island in the San Francisco Bay. The first European who sailed those waters was the Spaniard Juan de Ayala commanding the San Carlos. He also made, in 1775, the first map of the area, where the Rock was named Isla de los Alcatraces (Island of the Gannets, a seabird), from which the famous prison takes its name. (Published in Época, May 25-31, 2007) Did you know that... in the US there are four buildings inspired by the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus? In the US, there are four buildings designed after the tomb built by Queen Artemisia II (4th century) for his husband in Halicarnassus: President Ulysses S. Grant’s tomb in New York; Los Angeles City Hall; the Indianapolis War Memorial, and the Temple of the Masonic order of the Scottish Rite in Washington, D.C. (Published in Época, May 18-24, 2007) Did you know that... the Spanish were the first Europeans to explore the Wheeler Peak area? The Spanish Hernando de Alvarado arrived in that mountainous region in 1540, and Francisco de Barrionuevo the following year. There they established contact with the Towih people, and named the highest peak after the Castilian Spanish transcription of the name of the tribe, Taos. The current name of the peak was established much later, at the end of the 19th century, in honor of American explorer George M. Wheeler, who arrived in the area three centuries after the Spanish. (Published in Época, May 11-17) Did you know that... there are two copies of the equestrian statue of Pizarro that is in Trujillo? The widow of US sculptor Charles C. Rumsey (1879-1922) donated a statue by her husband to the town of Trujillo, Cáceres in 1927. It is a replica of the one he made for the Panama Pacific Exposition currently in front of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. Another copy is in Lima, Peru. (Published in Alba, May 11-17, 2007) Did you know that... in the US no calendar has ever been established as official? Did you know that... in the US no calendar has ever been established as official? No US law provides for the use of a calendar in the country. The use of the Gregorian calendar became widespread in the US after it was approved by the British Parliament in 1751, but since 1776, when the country became independent from Britain, no legal regulation on the subject has been adopted. (Published in Época, May 4-10, 2007) Did you know that... Pope Benedict XVI received his first honorary doctorate in the US? Benedict XVI has been awarded seven honorary doctorates from academic institutions in six different countries. The University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the US, was the first to bestow this honor on him in 1984. (Published in Alba, April 22-26, 2007) Did you know that... a brother of the inventor of the Singer sewing machine discovered a Spanish galleon’s treasure? John Singer found a trunk full of jewels and golden coins next to a wrecked ship on Padre Island (Texas). Singer built the family home with wood from the wreck, and buried the treasure in a nearby sand dune. The Secession War made the family leave the island. Upon return, the Singers found that the unionists had used the wood of the house to make bonfires, and a hurricane had swept the dune and all trace of the treasure. (Published in Época, April 13-19, 2007) Did you know that... New Orleans’ French Quarter is actually Spanish? Although the French Quarter, for which the city of New Orleans is world famous, was built by the French, its architecture today is Spanish. Numerous fires destroyed the French buildings, and those who carried out the reconstruction of the quarter during the time when they ruled the city, between 1763 and 1803, were Spanish. (Published in Alba, March 30-April 5, 2007) Did you know that... the creator of Tarzan tried to participate in the Cuban War? The young Burroughs, after graduating from the Michigan Military Academy, wrote Theodore Roosevelt in order to enroll in a volunteer cavalry unit that was going to take part in the Spanish-American war of 1898. He was turned away since the forces were already enough. (Published in Época, March 23-29, 2007) Did you know that... the first Muslim in the US Congress took the oath of office on the Koran? Keith Ellison, as well as being the first Muslim elected to the US Congress, is also the first Congressman who took the oath of office on a Koran. The ceremony took place last January, and the Koran used was the one once owned by Thomas Jefferson, the third US President. (Published in Alba, March 23-29, 2007) Did you know that... Americans’ lead exposure in 1980 was ten times greater than that of the ancient Romans? According to a study by the US National Academy of Sciences, 40% of the world’s lead production was being consumed in the country in 1980. The average exposure was 5,221 grams per American per annum. In the last 25 years, federal policies have increased to reduce the use of lead in gasoline, and ban it in food packaging, paint, and other products. (Published in Época, March 16-22, 2007) Did you know that... some US Presidents are nicknamed with their initials? Popularly, US citizens refer to some of their Presidents with their initials. This is the case of Theodore Roosevelt, referred to as TR; Franklyn D. Roosevelt, referred to as FDR; John F. Kennedy, referred to as JFK; Lyndon B. Johnson, referred to as LBJ, and George W. Bush, referred to as GWB. (Published in Época, March 2-8, 2007) Did you know that... the designer of the future transportation hub that will be built at Ground Zero is Spanish? Spanish engineer and architect Santiago Calatrava has designed the future transportation hub that will be built at so-called Ground Zero in New York, the site where the Twin Towers and adjacent skyscrapers that collapsed as a result of the suicide attack once soared. The construction is not expected to be completed before 2009. (Published in Alba, February 16-22, 2007) Did you know that... the US has its own Union Jack? From 1960 to 2002, US Navy warships used the so-called Union Jack, a flag consisting of the upper left corner of the national flag –50 white stars on a blue field— symbolizing the union of the states. Since the Global War on Terrorism started in 2002, the Union Jack has been replaced with the Rattlesnake Jack, which had already been used during the US War of Independence. (Published in Época, February 16-22, 2007) Did you know that... Spain established almost 70 forts and prisons in the US? The Spanish founded 69 forts and prisons during the 16th and 17th centuries in the USA, in the states of Arizona (19), California (23), North Carolina (1), Florida (48), Georgia (16), Louisiana (1), New Mexico (51), Texas (45), and Virginia (1). (Published in Alba, February 9-15, 2007) Did you know that... there are more El Cid statues in the US than in Spain? American sculptress Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973) built four of the five most famous statues of El Cid. Three of them are in the US (San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington), and the fourth in Seville. The Spaniard Juan Cristóbal made another statue of the Campeador, which is in Burgos. (Published in Alba, February 2-8, 2007) Did you know that... the biggest collection of beverage cans is in the USA? The Museum of Beverage Containers is in Millersville, Tennessee. The collection, started in the 1970’s by Tom Bates, is made of around 400,000 cans of all times and brands. (Published in Época, February 2-8, 2007) Did you know that... there are more than 50 religious confessions in the USA? 207 million Americans say they are members of a religious group, up to 56 groups. 133 million are Christians, 51 million of whom say they are Catholic. (Published in Alba, January 26-February 1, 2007) Did you know that... 7 of the 11 women who have won the Nobel Prize in the area of science are American? Seven of the eleven women who have won the Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry, or medicine carried out their research in the US: Barbara McClintock, Gerty Cori, Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Gertrude Belle Elion, and Linda B. Buck, awarded with the Nobel Prize in Medicine, and Maria Goeppert Mayer, with the Nobel in Physics. (Published in Época, January 19-25, 2007) Did you know that... Benjamin Franklin was corresponding member of the Spanish Royal Academy of History? Franklin had studied Spanish since he was 26 years old, and in 1749 his interest in this language made him include it in the curriculum of the Academy of Philadelphia, later to become one of the first US universities. (Published in Alba, January 19-25, 2007) Did you know that... the US dollar symbol ($) is of Spanish origin? Symbol “$” is, according to some historians, a stylization of a stamp with two ribbon-wreathed pillars of Hercules and the motto Plus Ultra. The stamp used to be written on the Spanish coins minted in the Mexican mint (columnarios), and on the gold and silver bars that were sent from the Americas to Spain. (Published in Época, January 12-18, 2007) Did you know that... there are five places named Toledo in the US? The places called Toledo are in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Oregon, and Washington. The first two took their name from the Spanish town of Toledo, while the other three took it from the city located in Ohio. (Published in Alba, January 12-18, 2007) Did you know that... Antonio Cánovas del Castillo received an Oscar? Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, the great-nephew of the homonymous Spanish statesman, won an Oscar for best costume design in 1971 for his work in Nicholas and Alexandra, which he shared with Yvonne Blake. (Published in Época, January 5-11, 2007) Did you know that... the Spanish founded more than 200 missions in the USA? In the US, there are the remains of more than 200 missions founded by different Spanish religious orders during the 16th and 17th centuries. Those missions are located in Arizona (19 missions), California (23), North Carolina (1), Florida (48), Georgia (16), Louisiana (1), New Mexico (51), Texas (45), and Virginia (1). (Published in Alba, December 22-28, 2006) Did you know that... there are several towns named Madrid in the USA? In the US there are three towns called Madrid, located in Alabama, Iowa, and Nebraska; there is also a town called New Madrid in Missouri. (Published in Alba, December 15-21, 2006) Did you know that... the first European who arrived in the USA was Spanish and gave the name to Florida? The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León (1460-1521) was the first European who arrived to what was to become the US. He disembarked on the eastern coast on Palm Sunday, 1513, and gave the name of “Pascua Florida” to the territory. This name was the origin of the name of the present state. (Published in Época, December 1-7 2006) Did you know that... the US Congress honors a Spanish monk since 1931? The Capitol, the seat of the US Congress (in Washington), contains a gallery with 50 statues, the National Statuary Hall, which honors the main historical figures of the States of the Union. The statue of Franciscan monk Father Junípero Serra (1713-1784) represents California and acknowledges his efforts as an explorer of that land and founder of nine missions. (Published in Alba, December 1-7, 2006) Did you know that... Islamic religion is one of the most growing religions in the USA? It is estimated that there are from 2 to 7 million Muslim Americans, 17% to 30% of whom would be converts to that faith. The number of mosques is estimated at more than 1,200; many of them have been founded in the last 20 years. (Published in Alba, November 24-30, 2006) Did you know that... a Spaniard might have been the first European who celebrated Thanksgiving in the USA? Traditionally, it is considered that the first Thanksgiving celebration on US soil was held in 1621 by the crew of the Mayflower, but some historians defend that it was held in 1541 by the Spaniard Juan de Padilla during the expedition by Vázquez de Coronado to Palo Duro Canyon (Texas). (Published in Época, November 24-30, 2006) Did you know that... the first Spaniard who won an Oscar was Juan de la Cierva? Juan de la Cierva, the nephew of the inventor of the autogyro, received an Oscar for the invention of the Dynalens optical image motion compensator. This revolutionary system, which eliminates camera movement, vibration and out-of-focus effects, was used for the first time in the film Tora, Tora, Tora (1969), in which this Spanish engineer took part. (Published in Época, November 17-23, 2006) Did you know that... the oldest city in the US was founded by the Spanish? Saint Augustine is the oldest city in the US. Located in Florida, it was founded with the name of San Agustín by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on September 8, 1565. (Published in Época, October 20-26, 2006) 0
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