What inventions came from Puerto Rico? The hammock and the cooking "grill" were first invented and used in Puerto Rico by the Taino Indians. The English words canoe, hammock, barbecue, manatee and hurricane and others came from Taino Indian words.
Who are some famous inventors from Puerto Rico?
Born in Perú, Claudio Castillón Lévano was granted U.S. Patent 6,884,211 for a "Neonatal Artificial Bubble" that improves the intensive care of high-risk newborns. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, William R. Cumpiano was granted U.S. Patent 5,333,527 for a "Compression Molded Composite Guitar Soundboard."
How many patents do Puerto Rican inventors get each year?
Puerto Rican inventors earned an average of sixteen patents per year in the late seventies, twenty patents per year in the eighties, and twenty-seven patents per year in the nineties. The total number of patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office has seen similar increases.
What are the contributions of scientists to Puerto Rico?
Scientists such as Agustín Stahl, Fermín Tangüis and Fernando López Tuero conducted investigations and experiments in the fields of agriculture, botany, ethnology and zoology. The findings of their investigations helped Puerto Rico's agricultural industry.
What are some products that Puerto Rico exports?
Among the products which Puerto Rico exported were tobacco, cotton, ginger, pineapples and citrus fruits. The two main agricultural products whose production dominated the island's economy were sugar and coffee. The Mariani family of Yauco created a machine out of a cotton gin in the 1860s, which was used in the dehusking of coffee.
Are there any Puerto Rican inventors?
Puerto Rican inventors earned an average of sixteen patents per year in the late seventies, twenty patents per year in the eighties, and twenty-seven patents per year in the nineties. The total number of patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office has seen similar increases.
What comes from Puerto Rico?
13 Distinctively Puerto Rican Goods to Bring Home from San JuanButterfly Art. When you first walk into The Butterfly People shop in San Juan's old city, you feel as if you just walked into an exotic butterfly garden. ... Cigars. ... Mundillo. ... Ceramics. ... Pilon. ... Bags. ... Vejigantes. ... Wood Carvings of Saints.More items...
What is the main product of Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico main exports products are pharmaceuticals, accounting for over 50 percent of all exports. Others include medical equipment, computers, apparel, canned tuna, rum, beverage and concentrates. Puerto Rico's main exports partner is the United States, accounting for around 70 percent of total exports.
What is Puerto Rico best known for?
Puerto Rico is the world's leading rum producer; 80% of the rum consumed in the United States hails from the island. There is a counted number bioluminescent bays in the entire world. Puerto Rico is home three bioluminescent bays.
What is a female Puerto Rican called?
Use la boricua when referring to a female of Puerto Rican descent.
What are some unique things about Puerto Rico?
10 Fascinating Things You Didn't Know About Puerto RicoIt has uninhabited islands. ... Legendary pirate Cofresi is part of local folklore. ... The island's national animal is the small coqui tree frog. ... The longest serving governor was for in place for 16 years. ... It has its own observatory. ... Beaches, beaches, and more beaches.More items...•
What 3 items that are exported from Puerto Rico?
The chief exports are chemicals and chemical products, foodstuffs, and computers and electronics. The main imports are chemicals and chemical products, petroleum and coal products, food products, transportation equipment, and computers and electronics.
Is Puerto Rico richer than Mexico?
Puerto Rico has a GDP per capita of $39,400 as of 2017, while in Mexico, the GDP per capita is $19,900 as of 2017.
Is Puerto Rico a poor or rich country?
Puerto Rico is classified as a high income country, high income countries are defined by the World Bank as countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of $11,116 or more.
What are 3 things that Puerto Rico is known for?
What is Puerto Rico Most Famous For?Old San Juan.Puerto Rico beaches.Puerto Rico's coral reefs.Flamenco Beach Abandoned Tanks.El Yunque National Forest.Castillo de San Cristóbal.Museums in Ponce.Bahía Bioluminiscente.More items...
What are 5 fun facts about Puerto Rico?
41 Facts About Puerto RicoPuerto Ricans Have the US Citizenship. ... Puerto Ricans Have their Own Citizenship. ... Puerto Rico is Still a Colony. ... US Citizens Don't Need a Passport. ... Cristopher Columbus Wasn't the First to Arrive. ... The Island's Name Was Formerly “San Juan Bautista” ... The Island Has a Hurricane Season.More items...•
What are 5 original foods from Puerto Rico?
15 BEST TRADITIONAL PUERTO RICAN DISHESMOFONGO. Cuisine Food Mofongo, Ponce, Puerto Rico. ... CAFE. Handmade Roast. ... TRIPLETA. Puerto Rico Tripleta Sandwich. ... PINA COLADAS. Puerto Rico Pina Colada Cocktail. ... LECHON ASADO. Lechon Asado Puerto Rico. ... QUESITOS. Puerto Rico Quesito Cheese Pastry. ... ALCAPURRIAS. ... BACALAITOS.More items...•
What were the main products of Puerto Rico?
Among the products which Puerto Rico exported were tobacco, cotton, ginger, pineapples and citrus fruits. The two main agricultural products whose production dominated the island's economy were sugar and coffee.
Who invented the coffee machine in Puerto Rico?
Coffee industry. The Mariani family of Yauco created a machine out of a cotton gin in the 1860s, which was used in the dehusking of coffee. This represented a significant improvement in Puerto Rico's coffee appearance and an opportunity to stand out in the international coffee market. Cotton industry. Fermín Tangüis.
What crops affected Puerto Rico?
Among the crops affected was the sugar cane, whose main product "sugar" was vital to Puerto Rico's economy. The Spanish colonial government, created an emergency commission composed of scientists, which included Agustín Stahl and Fernando López Tuero, to study the situation.
What was the purpose of the grant that the Government of Puerto Rico gave to the University of Puerto Rico?
He was a professor of agricultural sciences at the University of Puerto Rico in the late 1940s when the Government of Puerto Rico gave a grant to the University of Puerto Rico ( Universidad de Puerto Rico) to help assist in the development of Puerto Rican industries.
How many patents did Puerto Rico have in the late seventies?
Inventors. Puerto Rican inventors earned an average of sixteen patents per year in the late seventies, twenty patents per year in the eighties, and twenty-seven patents per year in the nineties. The total number of patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office has seen similar increases.
What are the contributions of Puerto Ricans?
With the advances in medical technologies and the coming of the Space Age of the 20th century, Puerto Ricans have expanded their horizons and have made many contributions in various scientific fields, among them the fields of aerospace and medicine.
What did the Tainos do before Columbus?
Before Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Conquistadors landed on the island of "Borikén" ( Puerto Rico ), the Tainos who inhabited the island depended on their astronomical observations for the cultivation of their crops.
Who invented the artificial bubble?
Claudio Castillón Lévano. Born in Perú, Claudio Castillón Lévano was granted U.S. Patent 6,884,211 for a "Neonatal Artificial Bubble" that improves the intensive care of high-risk newborns.
How many patents has Alejandro Zaffaroni been granted?
Born in Uruguay, Alejandro Zaffaroni has been granted over 45 patents to date, including U.S. Patent 3,598,122 "Bandage for Administering Drugs." He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame#N#(link is external)#N#in 2012.
What is the patent for the corkscrew?
Born in Chile, Luis Alejandro Cavallo Caroca was granted U.S. Design Patent D582,231 for the "Ornamental Design of a Corkscrew" and also U.S. Design Patent D584,122 for the "Ornamental Design of Scissors."
Who invented the color television?
Guillermo González Camarena. Born in Guadalajara, México, Guillermo González Camarena was granted U.S. Patent 2,296,019 for a "Chromoscopic adapter for television equipment", an early color television transmission system. His invention was used in NASA's Voyager mission in 1979 to take pictures and video of Jupiter.
Who invented the diamond scalpel?
A native of Venezuela, Dr. Humberto Fernandez-Moran Villalobos invented and patented the diamond scalpel. Dr. Villalobos would combine his highly precise scalpel with a microtome into a new device that enabled researchers to cut very thin slices of tissue, minerals or plant matter to be examined under the microscope.
Who was the first Hispanic woman to go to space?
Ellen Ochoa. Born in California, Ellen Ochoa was granted U.S. Patent 4,838,644 for "Position, Rotation, and Intensity Invariant Recognizing Method " and two other optical-related patents. Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1993.
When was Puerto Rico founded?
In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the first European settlement, Caparra, near a bay on the island’s northern coast; Caparra was renamed Puerto Rico (or “rich port”) in 1521. Over time, people began referring to the entire island by that name, while the port city itself became San Juan.
What was the name of the U.S. effort to make Puerto Rico a commonwealth?
By that time, the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments had jointly launched an ambitious industrialization effort called Operation Bootstrap.
What is Puerto Rico's native population called?
Native Population. Puerto Rico’s native Taíno population—whose hunter-gatherer ancestors settled the island more than 1,000 years before the Spanish arrived—called it Borinquén, and referred to themselves as boricua (a term that is still used today).
What happened to Puerto Rico in 2015?
In the first decade of the 21st century, Puerto Rico’s economic growth slowed, even as its national debt rapidly expanded. In 2015, the worsening economic crisis led its governor to announce that the commonwealth could no longer meet its debt obligations.
What was the name of the treaty that ended the war in Puerto Rico?
Under the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the war later that year, Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Cuba to the United States. The interim U.S. military government established on the island ended in 1900 after Congress passed the Foraker Act, which formally instituted a civil government in Puerto Rico.
When did Puerto Ricans get citizenship?
In 1917 , Congress passed the Jones-Shafroth Act, which granted U.S. citizenship to all Puerto Ricans and made Puerto Rican males eligible for the military draft; some 18,000 of the territory’s residents were subsequently drafted into World War I. Recommended for you. 2016.
When did Puerto Rico become a state?
After centuries of Spanish rule, Puerto Rico became a territory of the United States in 1898 and has been largely self-governing since the mid-20th century. It has a population of some 3.4 million people and a vibrant culture shaped by a mix of Spanish, United States and Afro-Caribbean influences.

Overview
Inventors
Puerto Rican inventors earned an average of sixteen patents per year in the late seventies, twenty patents per year in the eighties, and twenty-seven patents per year in the nineties. The total number of patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office has seen similar increases.
• Olga D. González-Sanabria contributed to the development of the "Long Cycle …
Aerospace
• Roberto Alemán is an electronics engineer and Aero-Space Technologist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. As Environmental Instruments Director, he directs everything that is related to the environmental instruments that the United States provides to the European Space Agency in order to operate the MetOp, a European satellite that provides environmental information to bot…
Agriculture
In the 19th Century, Puerto Rico's economy depended on its agricultural industry. Among the products that Puerto Rico exported were tobacco, cotton, ginger, pineapples and citrus fruits. The two main agricultural products whose production dominated the island's economy were sugar and coffee.
• Coffee industry
Archaeology
• Ricardo Alegría is a scholar, cultural anthropologist and archeologist known as the "Father of Modern Puerto Rican Archaeology". He is credited with being a pioneer in the anthropology of the Taino culture and the African heritage in Puerto Rico. His extensive studies have helped historians to understand how the Taínos lived and suffered, before and after the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in the island. Alegría estimated that about one third of all Puerto Ricans (2 million out of …
Astronomy
• Victor Manuel Blanco is an astronomer who, in 1959, discovered a Galactic Cluster "Blanco 1", which was named after him. Blanco was the second Director of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, which has the largest 4-m telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, In 1995, the telescope was dedicated in his honor and is known as the Blanco 4m
• Sixto González was the first Puerto Rican to be named Director of the Arecibo Observatory, the world's largest single dish radi…
Astrophysics
• Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and television and radio host. deGrasse Tyson, whose mother is Puerto Rican, is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. deGrasse Tyson is the host of the PBS series "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage".
• Enectalí Figueroa-Feliciano is a mechanical engineer, Astronaut applicant and an Associate Professor of Physics at Northwestern University and the author of various papers including "Posit…
Biochemistry
• Nitza Margarita Cintrón is a scientist who originated the Biochemistry Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center. She is the Chief of Space Medicine and Health Care Systems Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center. In 1979, Cintron originated the Biochemistry Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center. He served from (1979–85) as the project scientist for the Space Lab 2 mission, which wa…