El seis de enero/January 6th (¡Felíz Día de Los Reyes Magos!)

-
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Nancy Lopez! (1957-            )

Cover of the 2008 book by Anne Wallace Sharp
Lopez is a retired professional golfer who won 48 LPGA tournaments, including three major tournaments, during her career. She was inducted into the Women's Golf Hall of Fame in 1987. Born in Torrance, California to Mexican parents Domingo and Marina Lopez (and raised by them in Roswell, New Mexico), Nancy Lopez learned the game from her father, who she called her "best friend and coach" (click HERE to read more in English, and HERE to read the same ESPN story in Spanish). Lopez was married to retired professional baseball player Ray Knight for 27 years (1982-2009) and the two have three daughters together. Lopez also has grandchildren that she hopes to teach the game. Professional golfer Lizette Salas, who is also Mexican-American and who travelled to tournaments with her father in his pickup truck (they slept in the cab), calls Lopez her idol and says she was thrilled to finally meet her (in 2014). (Click HERE to read more about Lizette and her father). Lopez currently lives in Florida and hosts an annual golf tournament for the charity AIM (Adventures in Movement), an organization that helps children and adults with special needs.  

 For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE. (I like showing the 2014 Ikea commercial "La otra carta" for Three Kings - check out my lesson to go along with it!)

Other January 6th birthdays:

Julio María Sanguinetti (1936-         ): Journalist, lawyer, politician, and two-time President of Uruguay (1985-1990, 1995-2000). Sanguinetti had to leave his government position when the military took over in 1973, but he helped with the transition back to democracy in 1985.  He is married to historian and journalist Marta Canessa, and their children, Julio Luis and Emma, are both lawyers. Sanguinetti has written many books.




 Gilbert Arenas (1982-       ): Former NBA basketball player who once had 16 points in an overtime period (on Dec. 17th, 2006 against the Lakers). Arenas' paternal grandfather was from Santiago, Cuba.






January 6th events of note:

1492 - Monarchs Ferdinand (Fernando) and Isabela enter Granada, Spain, ending the Reconquista (and beginning the Inquisition).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

El veintidós de agosto/August 22nd

-
Image
Photo from wavenespapers.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Ricardo Hurtado! (1999-      ) An actor and musician who became famous playing Freddy on the Nickelodeon series School of Rock , Hurtado was born to Nicaraguan parents in Miami. He moved with his family to Atlanta, Georgia when he was one years old. Hurtado's father is a musician (a piano player with a degree in music from the University of Georgia). "Everyone on my dad's side of the family is a musician," he told an interviewer in 2016, adding that his uncle played the guitar. In the same interview , Hurtado talks about his faith and says, "My main goal in life if to be as close as I can be to God." He wrote his first song for this purpose -- his second song was about a breakup. Listen to Hurtado speak Spanish at this 2017 interview outside the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.
Read more

El siete de enero/January 7th

-
Image
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Juan Gabriel (Alberto Aguilera Valadez)! (1950-2016) "Music is mankind's way of thanking the universe for letting us be here." -Juan Gabriel       Photo from Billboard's write-up on Juan Gabriel's cover       of Creedence Clearwater's Have You Ever Seen    The Rain? (Gracias al sol) several months  before his death.  Click  HERE   to read and listen.  A Mexican singer, songwriter, and actor, and "the actual king of Latin pop" who was idolized by younger performers such as Marc Anthony, Juan Gabriel was adored by fans worldwide. He put out some 2,000 songs during his lifetime and sold out multiple concerts. He was not always as well-known by English-language speakers in the U.S., however, and Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's wonderful 1999 profile of him in the  L.A. Times  (updated when he died in 2016 -- click  HERE  to read) includes a story about a West Hollywood a...
Read more

El diez de julio/July 10th

-
Image
Photo from El Porvenir. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Nicolás Guillén! (1902-1989) A Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer of African-European descent, Guillén was known during his life as the National Poet of Cuba. Born in Camagüey, he was the oldest of six children born to Nicolás Guillén y Urra, who had fought for Cuban independence from Spain, and Argelia Batista y Arrieta. Guillén's father belonged to the Partido Libertad and founded the daily newspaper La Libertad to express his views. Government forces assassinated Guillén's father for protesting electoral fraud and closed down his printing press. After that, Guillén's family struggled financially. Guillén was greatly influenced by meeting African-American poet Langston Hughes in 1930. Hughes' enthusiasm for Afro-Cuban music inspired Guillén, who was familiar with 'son' music from his father. Hughes immediately recognized the similarities between son music in Cuba and the b...
Read more