On July 25, 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth with a constitution written by Puerto Ricans and modeled after the U.S. Constitution. The island had been a U.S. possession since 1898, when Spain surrendered it at the end of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico is the largest of a handful of island territories under the jurisdiction of the federal government. Puerto Rico Caribbean 3,515 sq. mi. 4,000,000 Guam Pacific 212 sq. mi. 178,000 U.S. Virgin Islands Caribbean 136 sq. mi. 110,000 Northern Mariana Islands Pacific 184 sq. mi. 89,000 American Somoa Pacific 77 sq. mi. 66,000 Johnston Atoll Pacific 1 sq. mi. 0* Midway Islands Pacific 2 sq. mi. 0 Wake Island Pacific 3 sq. mi. 0 Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands Pacific 3 sq. mi. 0 Kingman Reef Pacific 1 sq. mi. 0 Navassa Island Caribbean 2 sq. mi 0 Palmyra Atoll Pacific 5 sq. mi. 0 * No indigenous inhabitants. Some smaller U.S. territories are inhabited by a few U.S. government personnel. 1866... Following the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson elevates Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of general of the U.S. Army, making him the first American officer to hold that rank. 1898... During the Spanish-American War, U.S. troops begin to land in Puerto Rico. 1952... Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the United States. 1956... The Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria sinks off Nantucket, Massachusetts, after colliding with the Swedish liner Stockholm; some 50 people die, but 1,660 are rescued.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 19:18:28 +0000
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