Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Ignacio Molinet, first Hispanic player in the NFL

Ignacio "Lou" Molinet, born November 30, 1904 in Chaparra, Cuba, is the first Cuban and first Latin American to play in the National Football League. He attended Peddie School in New Jersey, and then enrolled in Cornell University, where he lettered twice in both basketball and football.  After his parents died after his sophomore year, he remained in Cuba.  

The Frankford Athletic Association contacted him to play for the Frankford Yellow Jackets, who were the defending NFL champion at the time, so he returned.  

In 1927, he rushed for 75 yards and passed for another 35 yards.  He caught several passes, and he scored a touchdown in a win over the Buffalo Bison. However, the Yellow Jackets fell below 0.500 and placed 7th in the standings.  Molinet returned to Cornell after only one season in the NFL, and finished his degree.

He passed away in August 1977.

Luna 19 launched 1971

Luna 19, launched September 28, 1971 by the Soviet Union, was sent to the moon to carry out studies of gravitational fields, the radiation environment, and solar wind. Luna 19 entered a parking orbit around Earth and headed toward the moon October 2. 

Luna 19 studied the moon until contact was lost November 1, 1972.

Remembering Dame Maggie Smith (1934-2024)

Dame Maggie Smith, one of the most accomplished actresses of all time, passed away yesterday from undisclosed causes.  She began her acting career at 17 as Viola in Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse in 1952. She made her television debut in Oxford Accents in 1954. Smith made her Broadway debut playing in the New Faces of '56 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre from June to December 1956.  In 1956, she appeared in her firsts film in an uncredited role in Child in the House.

Dame Smith won her first Academy Award in 1969 for Best Actress for her performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.  Her second Oscar was in 1978 for Best Supporting Actress for her work in California Suite.

She won four Primetime Emmy Awards, three of them for her role in Downton Abbey. She won a Tony Award in 1990 for her work in Lettice and Lovage.  She is one of few performers to win the Triple Crown of Acting: Oscar, Tony, Emmy.

Her final film The Miracle Club was released last year.

This clip from the Carol Burnett Show is one of my favorites to show her comedic talent.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Romualdo Pacheco, first Hispanic governor in US

Jose Romualdo Pacheco, born in Santa Barbara, California October 31, 1831, became the first Hispanic governor in the United States when he was served as governor of California in February 1875.  He is also the only Hispanic to server as Governor of California and the first Latino to represent a state in the US Congress.

After serving as an apprentice on a trading vessel during the Mexican-American War, he entered politics in 1850.  With prominent family connections, he sought the position of judge in San Luis Obispo and won at the age of 22.  He was elected to the state senate in 1857 and was re-elected twice.

When the Civil War broke out, he was appointed the rank of brigadier general by Governor Leland Stanford to disarm military companies in Los Angeles that weren't loyal to the Union.

Pacheco served as state treasurer of California from 1863-1867, then became Lieutenant Governor of California under Newton Booth. When Booth was elected to the US Senate in 1875, Pacheco served as governor from February to December 1875. 

He ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives and defeated the incumbent Peter Wigginton by one vote.  Wigginton contested the election and managed to overturn Pacheco's victory in 1878. Pacheco went into business until winning a House seat in September 1879 and was re-elected in 1880. 

After leaving Congress and living on a cattle ranch in northern Mexico until he was appointed as US Minister to various countries in Central America in 1890.

Pacheco returned to California in 1893 and died in 1899.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Luis Negrón, Lambda Literary Award winner

Luis Negron, born in Guyama, Puerto Rico in 1970, is a writer, living in Santurce, Puerto Rico.  His debut short story collection, Mundo Cruel, was published in 2010.  Its stories focus on gay life in Santurce, and has been printed five times in Spanish, and an English translation was published in 2013.  

Mundo Cruel won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction at the 26th Lambda Literary Awards in 2014.

Luna 16, first lunar sample return mission, lands 1970

Luna 16, the first successful lunar sample return mission, landed on Earth September 24, 1970. The main spacecraft was launched September 12 and landed on the dark side of the moon. Within an hour of landing, Luna 16 deployed an automatic drill.  It reached a depth of 35 cm and withdrew about 101 grams sample of lunar soil. The upper stage lifted off from the moon on September 21 and parachuted down, successfully landing in Kazakhstan September 24, 1970.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Eddie Palmieri, winner of first Grammy for Latin music

Eddie Palmieri at the piano

Eddie Palmieri, born December 15, 1936 in New York City, is a Latin-American musician who won the first Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording ever awarded in February 1976 for his album Sun of Latin Music.  He assembled his first band when he was 14 in 1950 and after playing in several bands, he released his first album La Perfecta in 1962.  Sun of Latin Music is his 19th album. 

In late 2005, Palmieri teamed up with Brian Lynch and recorded the CD The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project: Simpatico that included many jazz artists.  It won the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz recording in 2007.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Thomas Gomez, first and only Hispanic actor nominated for Best Supporting Actor

Thomas Gomez, born July 10, 1905 in New York City, was the first actor of Hispanic descent (and to date, the only Hispanic actor) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  His first film appearance was in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror in 1942.  In 1947, he appeared as Pancho in Ride the Pink Horse with Robert Montgomery. His performance was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar, becoming the first Hispanic actor to receive this nomination.

He appeared in The Conqueror with John Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, and William Conrad.  Gomez continued to act in movies and television, including an episode of Bewitched, appearing with Agnes Moorehead and Robert Montgomery's daughter, Elizabeth.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Pablo Morales, Olympic gold medalist

Pablo Morales, born December 5, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois to Cuban immigrants, won gold medals in swimming at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics.  He also set world records in the 100 m butterfly in 1984 and 1986.

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Morales won a gold for the 4x100 m relay and two silver medals for the butterfly, setting the world record. Unfortunately, he did not qualify for the 1988 Olympics, and retired from the sport. 

He returned to swimming and qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where he won the gold in the 100 m butterfly.

Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Q Who" wins 2 Primetime Emmys

Star Trek: The Next Generation was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy awards, with the episode Q Who receiving three of the nominations.  Q Who won two of the awards at the 41st annual ceremony held September 17, 1989.  Q Who was the first appearance of the Borg.

It won Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series. The episode was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Special Visual Effects.

Episode Elementary Dear Data was nominated for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Art Direction for a Series.  

Unnatural Selection was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series.

Episode For the Child was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore).

Episode For a Matter of Honor was nominated for Outstanding Achievement for Makeup for a Series.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Salvador Felices, first Puerto Rican Major General in US Air Force

 

Salvador Enrique Felices, born August 13, 1923 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, was the first Puerto Rican to reach the rank of major general in the United States Air Force.  He joined the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Puerto Rico. He entered West Point, the US Military Academy in New York, and took flying lessons.  He received his pilots wings in June 1946 and graduated as a second lieutenant.

He flew 19 combat missions during the Korean War as combat operations officer with the 344th Bombardment Squadron.  In June 1968, he was named commander of the 306th Bombardment Wing and flew 39 combat missions during the Vietnam War. 

In 1969, he became the commander of the 823rd Air Division at McCoy AFB in Florida. He was promoted to major general on April 2, 1973 and became vice commander of the Sixteenth AFB in Spain.  He retired from the Air Force in 1974. He passed away from natural causes in July 1987.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Joe Gandara, recipient of Medal of Honor

Joe Gandara, born April 25, 1924 in Santa Monica, California to Mexican immigrants, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2014.  He joined the army in February 1943.  In June 1944, Private Gandara and his detachment came under fire in Amfreville, France, from a German force, and were pinned down for four hours.  Private Gandara volunteered to advance solo toward the enemy's position.  He fired his machine gun from the hip and destroyed three hostile machine guns before he was killed.  

He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a March 18, 2014 ceremony as part of a review through the Defense Authorization Act which called for a review of Jewish American and Hispanic American veterans from WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to ensure no prejudice was shown to those deserving the Medal of Honor.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Katya Echazarreta, first Mexican-American woman in space

Katya Echazarreta, born June 15, 1995 in Guadalajara, Mexico, is the first female Mexican-American astronaut.  She was selected as part of Space for Humanity's Citizen Astronaut Program.  She went into space aboard Blue Origin NS-21 launched in June 2022 for a sub-orbital flight, lasting 10 minutes, 5 seconds.