Famous Latinx Birthdays

Photo from eldoce.tv. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Soledad Pastorutti (1980-)! An Argentine folk singer who made the genre popular with a younger generation, Pastorutti is also a TV and film actress. Her first album, Poncho al viento , is Sony Music's best-selling album ever in Argentina.  She began her career when she was only 15 after participating in the Cosquín folklore festival. Soon after she and her sister recorded Poncho al viento . Pastorutti has sixteen albums altogether, all successful, and she has been a coach on Argentina's version of The Voice as well as a host of Argentina's popular music program Ecos de mi tierra . She has performed more than 2000 times around the world (click HERE to see her speak, in Spanish, about coming to Los Angeles). In 2014 she won the Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album. She and husband Jeremías Audoglio have two daughters together (Antonia (2010) and Regina (2013)). For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 thro...

Photo from athleticsweekly.com. Click HERE .  Photo from cadenagramonte.cu, May 2018. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Javier Sotomayor (1967-   )! A retired Cuban track and field athlete who is the current world record holder in the high jump, Sotomayor is a 1992 and 2000 Olympic champion (Cuban boycotts of the Olympics in 1984 and 1988, and an injury in 1996, cost him other chances). He is widely regarded as the best high jumper of all time and is the only person ever to have cleared 8 feet. Sotomayor is the son of a day-care worker and a sugar factory maintenance man who was first sent to Cuban sports school as a prospect for basketball, because of his height. At age 14, coaches made him into a high jumper, and by age 19, he was No. 5 in the world. Sotomayor retired in 2001. He and wife Amaya González have four sons. To see Sotomayor compete and hear him interviewed (in Spanish) click HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, ...

Photo from latina.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Gabe Saporta! (1979-     ) A singer and founding member of the electronic pop group Cobra Starship, which performed together for more than 10 years and had two hits on the Billboard 100 top 10, Saporta is a Uruguayan American who moved with his parents from Montevideo to New York City when he was four years old. HIs father had been a physician in Montevideo but became disenchanted with Uruguay's somewhat corrupt health care system int he 1980s. He underwent his complete medical training again in the United States. The younger Saporta, who had always been passionate about music, attended Rutgers University, where he started the band Midtown. Midtown released five albums together. Saporta then started Cobra Starship in 2005 after learning how to manage a band on his own. The group was the main support for Justin Bieber's South America stadium tour in 2012. In 2015, Saporta started the talent management ...

Photo from uci.ch. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mariana Pajón! (1991-   ) A Colombian cyclist who has won two Olympic gold medals (2012 and 2016) and a BMX championship, Pajón is also the winner of 14 world championships, 2 national championships in the United States, 9 Latin American championships, and 10 Pan American championships. Her nickname is "Queen of BMX." She has been married to French BMX rider Vincent Pelluard since December of 2017. Pajón was born in Medellín, Colombia in 1991 at a time when the city was engulfed in violence, something that marked her youth. Her parents had also been athletes (her father raced cars and her mother competed in equestrian events). She learned to ride a bike at the age of 3 and began competing in events the next year. Click HERE to see a short ESPN documentary (in Spanish) about her life. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Bebo (front) and Chucho Valdés. Photo from elpais.com. Click HERE.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ...Bebo Valdés (1918-2013) y Chucho Valdés (su hijo) (1941-    )! Bebo Valdés (full name Dionisio Ramón Emilio Valdés Amaro), a Cuban musician and central figure in the Golden Age of Cuban music, started his career as a pianist in the nightclubs of Havana during the 1940s. Later on his orchestra, Sabor de Cuba, often performed at the Tropicana Cabaret. He was also an important figure in the nascent Afro-Cuban jazz scene in Cuba at the time. In 1960, due to the Cuban Revolution, Valdés defected to Mexico. He then spent time in the United States before moving to Stockholm, Sweden, where he lived for the rest of this life. Valdés won seven Grammy awards during his career, the last being in 2010, for a musical production recorded with his son Chucho, Bebo y Chucho Valdés: Juntos para siempre . The album won Best Latin Jazz Album. They also won a Latin Grammy. In 2011, he was awarded ...

Photo from tennisworldusa.org. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a... Garbiñe Muguruza! (1993-) A Spanish-Venezuelan tennis player formerly ranked #1 in the world, Muguruza is currently ranked #7 by the WTA. She turned pro in 2012 and has since won six singles titles, including two majors (the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017). Muguruza was born in Caracas, Venezuela to a Venezuelan mother and a Basque Spanish father. She holds dual Spanish Venezuelan nationality. She began playing tennis at the age of three in Venezuela. She moved to Spain when she was six years old and began training at the Bruguera Tennis Academy near Barcelona. To see her answer questions in Spanish about her personal preferences (favorite movie, famous person she's like to meet, etc), click HERE . Too see highlights of her match against Venus Williams in the finals of Wimbledon 2017, click HERE . And finally, to see her talk (in Spanish) about her morning routine before a match, click HERE . For...

Photo from wikipedia.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Sebastían Coates! (1990-      ) A soccer player from Uruguay who plays for Sporting CP as well as the Urguayan national team, Coates made his international debut at the 2011 Copa América, where he was voted Young Player of the Tournament after Uruguay won it. He also represented Uruguay in the 2012 Olympics, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 Copa América, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. See some of his best plays HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from wikipedia.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a... Valeria Baroni! (1989-     ) An Argentinian actress, singer, and dancer best known for being on the Zapping Zone program broadcast by Disney Latin America. In 2007 she appeared in High School Musical: The Selection, a reality show that aired in Brazil (the objective was the find an actor or actress to appear in the movie High School Musical). In additional to several other projects, she also appeared in 2016's What a Talent! , which aired in Brazil as well. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from latina.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Gerardo Ortiz! (1989-        ) A Mexican American singer-songwriter and record producer who grew up in Pasadena, California, Ortiz released his first album, Ni Hoy Ni Mañana , in 2010. That album earned him a Grammy award for Best Norteño Album. In 2013, he won a Premio Lo Nuestro for his song Amor confuso. He also received a Premio Lo Nuestro in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 for being the Best Norteño Artist. In 2016 he won Album of the Year for Hoy más fuerte . His latest music video on YouTube, Egoísta , has more than 11 million views (click HERE ). Ortiz's younger brother is Kevin Ortiz , who followed in his brother's footsteps as a musician and is now also a successful singer-songwriter of Mexican regional music. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE. Other birthdays of note: Tito El Bambino (1981-      ): Singer from Puerto Rico who made...

Photo from cancioneros.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Violeta Parra! (1917-1967) A Chilean composer, songwriter, artist, and folklorist who pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena , Parra had her life story told in the 2011 film Violeta se fue a los cielos (click HERE for the trailer). Parra was born in San Fabián de Alico, a small town in Southern Chile, one of nine children born to parents who were not wealthy but who stressed the importance of culture to their children (Parra's brother, Nicanor Parra, was a celebrated poet of the "anti-poetry" movement). When Parra's father died in 1929, she and her siblings had to work to help feed the family. She and several of her siblings were performing their music in nightclubs when she met Luis Cereceda in 1934. The two married in 1938 and had two children: Isabel (1939) and Ángel (1943). Cereceda was a strong communist and while with him Parra also became involved in politics. She also continued to sing. Par...

Photo from publinews.gt. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Zuleyka Rivera! (1987-) An actress, TV host, dancer, and model who won the beauty pageants Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006 and Miss Universe 2006, Rivera was the dancer featured in the music video Despacito by Luis Fonsi,  the most viewed video on YouTube ever with 5.3 billion views (click HERE to join the masses). She then performed the song live with them at the Grammys in January of 2018. She made her debut as an actress in the Mexican telenovela Dame chocolat e in 2007. She has appeared in several telenovelas since then. Rivera and Dallas Mavericks point guard J.J. Barea have a son together, born in February of 2012 in Minnesota. They had been together for two years prior. The couple publicly announced the end of their relationship in 2013. In additional to her telenovela work, Rivera hosted a show that aired in Colombia the Dominican Republic and Central America, La revista de Zuleyka , in 2015. For r...

Photo from radiodiaries.org. Click HERE .  October 2nd, 1968: Massacre of Tlatelolco in Mexico City, Mexico. Some ten thousand students and civilians gathered to protest in La Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City. Military and police used their forces to suppress them. Some 1300 were arrested and an estimated 300-400 killed. Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska memorialized the events in her 1971 book La noche de Tlatelolco ( Massacre in Mexico ). To see her interviewed about this and other events in Mexico, click HERE . Photo from zimbio.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Patricia Janiot! (1963-       ) A Colombian journalist who spent 25 years at CNN en Español as the Senior News Anchor and currently works as the News Anchor and Senior Correspondent at Noticias Univisión, Janiot first became well-known as a beauty queen and model in Colombia. She was Miss World Colombia in 1984 and traveled to London to ...

Photo from people.com. Click HERE .  Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mónica Spear (1984-Jan. 6 2014) A Venezuelan actress and model who won Miss Venezuela in 2004 and represented Venezuela in Miss Universe in Thailand in 2005 (finishing fourth), Spear became a symbol of the deteriorating situation in Venezuela when she and her husband were killed during a robbery attempt while visiting the country in 2014. Their five year old daughter was injured during the attack but survived. She now lives with her grandparents in Florida. Spear was raised in Venezuela, but her family moved to Orlando, Florida in 2000 when her mother retired from her job with an oil company in Venezuela. Her father is a project engineer at Siemens Westinghouse, an international engineering firm. Before returning to Venezuela to compete in Miss Venezuela in 2004 and then beginning her acting career, Spear earned a degree in theater from the University of Central Florida. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 ...

Photo from elcultural.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Laura Esquivel! (1950-      ) A Mexican novelist, screenwriter, and politician (she served on the Chamber of Deputies from 2012 to 2018), Esquivel wrote the bestselling Como agua para chocolate . The book was published in 1989 and turned into an award-winning film, which was distributed internationally, in 1994 (click HERE for the trailer). The book was eventually translated into 20 languages. Esquivel has written 5 other novels, all successful. She and her husband live in Mexico City. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE. Other birthdays of note: Héctor Lavoe (1946-1993): A Puerto Rican singer from New York City.

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Michelle Bachelet! (1951-      ) *y a Miguel Cervantes (1547-1616), autor de Don Quijote Photo from wikipedia.  The President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, Bachelet was the first woman in her country elected to this position. She is a member of the Socialist Party of Chile and was elected in 2013 with 62% of the vote. Bachelet is also a physician with studies in military strategy and speaks Spanish, English, German, Portuguese and French. Her father was in the military and she spent much of her childhood moving from one military base to another in Chile. When she was a teenager, the family moved to Bethesda, Maryland, where she attended high school and learned to speak English fluently. She returned to Chile to finish high school and graduated near the top of her class from a prestigious girls' school. Because her father worked as director for the Food Distribution Office under the government of Salvador Allend...

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Victor Jara! (1932-1973) A Chilean singer, poet, and activist, Jara is one of the main figures of the Nueva Canción Chilena movement, which used music as a form of social activism. Jara was born in Lonquén, near Santiago, into a poor family. His father encouraged the children to work to help support the family rather than go to school. By the time Jara was 6, his father had turned to drinking and become violent. He abandoned the family that year. Jara's mother, on the other hand, insisted that her children get an education. She taught herself to play the guitar and piano and also sang traditional folk songs at weddings and funerals. She died when Jara was only 15, and he was left to mostly fend for himself. He earned a theater scholarship to the University of Santiago, and in 1957 he met Violeta Parra, a revolutionary folk singer in Chile who had a huge influence on him. He released his first folk album, Canto a lo humano , in 1966. His songs were a combi...

Photo from wtatennis.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mónica Puig! (1993-     ) A professional tennis player from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Puig made history in 2016 when she won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She became the first athlete representing Puerto Rico to win an Olympic gold and the first Latin American champion in women's singles. In this 2016 interview, she describes her return to Puerto Rico after the win, with fans chanting her name well into the night, as "una noche de alegría, una noche feliz." Puig was born in San Juan to a Cuban American father and a Puerto Rican mother.  She turned pro in 2010 at the age of 17 and has since won two WTA singles titles and six ITF singles titles. She reached a ranking of #27 in the world in September of 2016. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from eldia.com.bo. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Marco "El Diablo" Etcheverry! (1970-      ) A retired Bolivian soccer player who played for the D.C. United from 1996 through 2003, leading them to three Major League Soccer cups, Etcheverry is considered one of Bolivia's greatest soccer players of all time. He helped lead the Bolivian team to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, their first since 1950. In April of 2006 the Bolivian congress awarded him the Order of Merit and gave him the title of Distinguished Citizen for his accomplishments. He was inducted into the D.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 (click HERE ). Click HERE to see a compilation video of his best plays. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from panamericanworld.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Albert Subirats! (1986-      ) An Olympic swimmer from Venezuela who won Venezuela's first World Championship medal in 2007, Subirats was born in Valencia, Carabobo (in Venezuela) and originally loved soccer, but asthma forced him to turn to swimming at the age of 13. By the age of 17, he had won a swimming scholarship to the University of Arizona, where he became a three time individual NCAA champion (the 100 yd fly in 2006 and 2007, his junior and senior years, and the 100 yd backstroke his senior year). Nicknamed "El Tornado," he has represented Venezuela in the Olympics three times, in 2004, 2008, and 2012. He currently lives and works in Miami. See him interviewed (in Spanish) HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from diarioelheraldo.cl. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... María Teresa Ruiz! (1946-     ) A Chilean astronomer, Ruiz was the first woman to successfully study astronomy at the University of Chile, the first woman scientist to receive her PhD from Princeton University (in 1975), and the first woman to win Chile's National Prize for Exact Sciences. The oldest of four children who lived in a house with her parents and grandparents growing up, Ruiz says that she always enjoyed finding "lo extraordinario en el ordinario." After receiving her PhD from Princeton, Ruiz completed research in Trieste, Mexico and New York City before being awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. She is now a professor at the University of Chile. She calls it the responsibility of every human being to contribute to the avance de la humanidad. Click HERE to see her talk (in Spanish) #LasNiñasPueden. In 2017, Ruiz won the L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for women in science. For resources for t...

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Julio Iglesias! (1945-      ) One of the most successful singer and songwriters of all time, Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain. His father's family was from Galicia, while his mother's mother was a native of Puerto Rico, and his mother's father, José de la Cueva y Orejuela, was Spanish of Jewish descent (de la cueva, or "from the cave," is a common Jewish last name in Spain because of the years Jews were persecuted and had to go into hiding during the Inquisition). Iglesias was originally a professional soccer player, but his career ended when he was in a serious auto accident and left unable to walk for two years. While in the hospital recuperating, a nurse gave him a guitar, and it is then that he discovered his talent for music. Iglesias started his career by winning the Benidorm International Song Festival in 1968. He went on to record in English, Italian, French, German, Portuguese, and other languages. It is estimated that he has p...

Photo from an interview with Gil on zaybet.blogspot.com. Click HERE . ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Eve Gil! (1968-      ) A Mexican writer from Hermosillo, Sonora, she has won various awards for her work including the Premio Nacional de Cuento Efraín Huerta , the Premio del Libro Sonorense , and the Premio Nacional de Periodismo Fernando Benítez, among others. Her latest venture was publishing two manga books, Sho-Shan y la dama oscura and Doncella roja . She explains that her oldest daughter has long been interested in Japanese culture, which is how she became interested as well. She has a younger daughter with Asperger's syndrome who she used as inspiration for Sho-Shan y la dama oscura . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from ussoccer.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Tab Ramos (Tabaré Ramos Ricciardi)! (1966-      ) A Uruguayan American former professional soccer player inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005, Ramos is currently the head coach of the U.S. Men's U-20 team. Born in Uruguay, Ramos immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 11. His father had played professional soccer in Uruguay and instilled a love of the game in his son from an early age. The Ramos family lived in Harrison and Kearny, New Jersey, and Ramos attended St. Benedict's Prep in Newark. He became an citizen of the United States in 1982. At St. Benedict's, he was a two time high school All American, and he was voted the National High School Player of the Year by Parade Magazine in 1983. He attended NC State, where he was a three time All American. He also left school in order to participate in the 1988 Summer Olympics. In 1990, he was voted U.S. Soccer Athl...

Carmona and friend Héctor Rotunda, who was with her at the protest on February 18, 2014 where she was shot. Rotunda gave an interview to abc.es about what happened. Click HERE .   ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Genésis Carmona! (1991-Feb. 2014) A Venezuelan fashion model, beauty pageant winner, and college student who was killed while protesting the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela in 2014, Carmona became a symbol of the crisis in Venezuela after a photo of her being rushed to the hospital on a friend's motorcycle after being shot was seen around the world. Carmona was killed by pro-government chavistas who showed up to the peaceful protest and began firing into the crowd. Nicolás Maduro did offer condolences to Carmona's family and loved ones, but then he went on to say that the bullet that killed her came from one of the protestors, not from outside pro-government supporters. In 2014, Carmona's mother and sister moved to the United States seeking politica...

Photo from elsalvador.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Cristina Esmeralda López! (1982-      ) A retired race walker (marchista/atleta de la marcha atlética) from El Salvador who won gold in the 2007 Pan American Games 20 kilometer race, López then went on to became a representative in El Salvador's Legislative Assembly. López was born into a family with few resources in El Salvador and was able to finish her  basic education with the help of El Salvador's Edúcame program. By 1998 she had won medals in 5 and 10 km races in El Salvador, and two years later she began training at the Instituto Nacional de los Deportes de El Salvador (INDES). Due to economic problems, she immigrated to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2002 in search of work, but she returned to El Salvador in 2003 and resumed training in 2005. She won the gold medal at the Pan American Games two years later, the only athlete from El Salvador ever to do so. In 2008, López announced that she ...

¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Kevin Ortiz!  (1994-       ) A Mexican American singer of regional music, Ortiz was born in Pasadena, California to parents who had immigrated from Sinaloa, Mexico, His father had been a well-known musician there. Ortiz is one of four boys, and his older brother Geraldo was the first to gain fame for singing regional Mexican music. Kevin Ortiz's breakout sing/video was Un minuto in 2013 (click HERE ). The video now has more than 45 million views on YouTube. He has sung in Nokia Stadium in Los Angeles and many other venues. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from vibe.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... De La Ghetto (Rafael Castillo)! (1984-     ) A reggaeton artist born in New York City to a Puerto Rican mother and a Dominican father, Castillo was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He started his career as part of the duo Arcángel & De La Ghetto but is now on his own. He has three studio albums: Masacre Musical (2008), Geezy Boyz: The Album (2013), and Mi Movimiento (2018). Learn more about him in this 2017 Billboard interview. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

¡Feliz Día de Independencia a México! ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Salomón Rondón! (1989- ) Photo from skysports.com. Click HERE .  A Venezuelan professional soccer player for the English club West Bromwich Albion and for the Venezuelan national team, Rondón won the 2015 national championship with FC Zenit, in the Russian Premier League, and has represented Venezuela in three Copa América tournaments. In a 2016 interview with The Guardian , Rondón spoke of fearing for his family, who live in Caracas, and not wanting anyone to know who his wife and children are, for their own safety (kidnappings are common in Caracas, due to the crisis in Venezuela). To see Rondón's soccer skills, click HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

¡Feliz Día de Independencia a Costa Rica! ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Nena Jiménez (Rosa Helena Jiménez Ochoa de Chavarriaga! (1929-2011) A Colombian comedian known for her "chistes verdes," Nena Jiménez started her career on the radio. She became extremely popular in the 1970s and by the end of her career has produced more than 25 tapes of humor. She performed not only in Colombia but in New York, Miami, Canada, England, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, and Chile. She also appeared on the television shows El Show de Cristina, Sábado Gigant e, and Don Francisco Presenta . To listen to her jokes (in Spanish), click HERE . For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE. Other September 15th birthdays of note: Porfirio Díaz (1830-1915): Mexican general and politician who was the 29th President of Mexico (the rich did very well during his presidency, known as the "Porfiriato," and the Mexican Revolution was, in p...

Photo from wikipedia.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Lola Rodríguez de Tió! (1843-1924) A Puerto Rican poet, abolitionist, and women's right activist, Rodríguez de Tió was born in San Germán, Puerto Rico and home-tutored for her education. Her father was a respected attorney on the island while her mother was a descendant of Juan Ponce de León, an explorer and the first Spanish governor of Puerto Rico. She married Bonocio Tió Segarra in 1863 and published poetry as well as articles in local journals. She and her husband were banned from Puerto Rico by Spanish appointed governors in both 1867 and 1889, and they lived in Venezuela, the United States (New York City), and Cuba. In Cuba, their home became a gathering place for intellectuals and exiled Puerto Ricans. Rodríguez de Tió became well known for her poetry about both Puerto Rico and Cuba. She also advocated for the abolition of slavery and for women's rights. She is buried in Havana, Cuba. For resources for teaching Span...

Photo from nj.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Bernie Williams (Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr.)! (1968-      ) A Puerto Rican former professional baseball player with the New York Yankees from 1991 to 2006 and a classically trained guitarist who has released two jazz albums and was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2009, Williams is a multi-talented man. He was born in New York City and lived in the Bronx before moving back to Puerto Rico with his parents when he was one. His dad was a merchant marine and dispatcher and his mom was a retired principal and college professor. Williams played both baseball and guitar growing up, and he was also a standout in track and field, winning medals at an international meet when he was 15. He was signed by the Yankees on his 17th birthday. Even then, he considered studying to be a doctor and took a biology course at the University of Puerto Rico, but he decided that he could not excel at both medicine and baseball an...

Photo from augusta.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Ángel "El Pato" Cabrera! (1969-     ) A professional golfer from Argentina who plays on both the European and the PGA tour, Cabrera has won two majors - the U.S. Open in 2007 and the Masters in 2009. He was close to winning the Masters in 2013 but lost in sudden death. He is nicknamed "El Pato" (The Duck) for his waddling gait. Born in Córdoba, Argentina, Cabrera was sent to live with his maternal grandmother when he was three or four and his parents split up (his father was a handyman and his mother was a maid, so neither had much money). When Cabrera was 10, he began working as a caddy at the Córdoba Country Club, and soon he was spending almost all of his time there. His determination and powerful swing caught the eye of members, one of whom bought him his first set of clubs when he was 16. That was also the year that Cabrera moved from his grandmother's house to the nearby house of Silvia, a...

Lionel Messi with sons Mateo, left, and Thiago, right. He has a third son, Ciro, born in March of 2018. Click HERE for a YouTube compilation  of Messi & children photos.  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Mateo Messi! (2015-   ) Son of legendary soccer player Lionel Messi , Mateo is younger brother to Thiago, born in 2012, and older brother to Ciro, born in 2018. He was born in Barcelona, with his dad missing training ahead of a match against Atlético Madrid to make sure that he was there (Messi plays for FC Barcelona and Argentina's national team). For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Photo from villagegreennj.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... José Feliciano! (1945- ) A Puerto Rican singer and songwriter who has won 8 Grammy awards and whose song Feliz Navidad is still the #1 played song at the holidays, Feliciano has been a successful musician since the early 60s. Born in Lares, Puerto Rico with congenital glaucoma, which left him blind by the age of 3, Feliciano moved with his family to Spanish Harlem in New York City at the age of 5. He first started playing the accordion, and then his father gave him a guitar. He practiced some 14 hours a day, and at the age of 17 he dropped out of school to play music full-time in the nearby clubs. By 1968 he had his first hit album, Feliciano . More than 35 albums followed. In 2000, Feliciano was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame, and in 2011, he won the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He and wife Susan Omillian, who he met in Detroit in 1971 and dated for ten years before ma...