of Latin America, and also before several European nations, to use steam ships.
nation in the world, after England and the US, to build a railroad. It also had
the causal effect of creating a significant Chinese immigration to the island.
in medical operations in Latin America (and also before Spain, Portugal, Italy,
France and many other European nations) was a Cuban. It was ether and the year
was 1847.
two clinics started the world’s first health insurance projects. Known then as
Mutual Benefit Organizations, these MBO’s were the precursors of what are known
today in the US as Health Maintenance Organizations or HMO’s. Membership in one
of Cardenas’s MBO’s gave its members access to all of the then available medical
treatments that the clinics offered. As the medical systems and clinics
developed, most Cuban hospitals and clinics provided free healthcare to the
poor.
professional baseball in the US (and the “father of Cuban baseball) was the Cuban,
Esteban Bellan in 1871.
planet Earth of an industry powered entirely by electricity was in done in Havana
in 1877.
agent of yellow fever, the mosquito Aedes
Aegypti, which now also happens to carry zika. Dr. Finlay studied medicine
at Thomas Jefferson University in the US.
lighting in all of Latin America, and also before a dozen European countries
was installed in Cuba in 1889.
(and before six European nations) began operation in Havana in 1900.
of Latin America, the first automobile arrived in Cuba. By 1959, there were
more Cadillacs in Havana than in New York City.
drive a car was the Cuban writer Renee Mendez Cape in 1900.
champion was a Cuban. The gold medal was won by the fencer Ramon Fonst Segundo,
in 1900 (he also won a silver in that Olympiad). In 1904 Fonts won three gold
medals in fencing!
away from Spain, the island had been the source of between 50%-75% of the
entire Spanish Gross National Product.
a direct dialing telephone system was Havana in 1906. The second city in the
world to have a direct dial telephone system was Santiago de Cuba, the capital
of the Oriente province. All through the first half of the century, Cuba had
more telephones per capita than any Latin American country except Argentina and
Uruguay.
in Latin America (and before nearly every European nation) was established in Havana.
aerial flight in Latin America was achieved by the Cuban pilots, Agustin Parla and
Domingo Rosillo del Toro. The flight was between Cuba and Bone Key, Florida and
lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes.
of Latin America to grant divorces to married couples.
first person born outside of Europe) to win the world championship of chess was
the Cuban master, Jose Raul Capablanca. He’s considered one of the greatest
players of all time and was world champion form 1921-1927. He only lost 35
matches in his lifetime.
in the world to have a commercial radio station, and the first nation in the
world to broadcast a music concert. By 1928 Cuba had 61 radio transmitters, 43
of them in Havana, giving the nation the fourth place of the world, only
surpassed by the US, Canada and the Soviet Union.
novel and radio series was created by the Cuban Felix B. Caignet. That was the
seminal birth of the telenovela as
well!
Latin America (and before most European countries) to establish a legal work
day of 8 hours. It also established a minimum wage!
country of Latin America (and also before many European nations) to elect
politicians by universal suffrage and absolute majority.
population was white, Cuban voters elected a black Cuban as President
(Fulgencio Batista). Batista was the first (and so far only) black President elected in Latin America.
America (and before several European nations) to recognize and authorize the
right to vote for women, the equality of rights between sexes and races, and
the right of women to work.
Ernesto Lecuona became the first Latin American musical director to receive a
nomination for an Oscar.
a commercial television station was Cuba in 1950. Throughout the decade,
Cubans had more TV sets per capita than any other Latin American country, and
more than Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal.
piece Patricia was the number one record for 15 consecutive weeks in the
Hit Parade list.
leading producer in American television. He also pioneered the concept of a
third camera in television programming.
first hotel in the world with central air conditioning
apartment buildings in the world were built in Havana.
was urban and more than 50% of the population lived in cities with more than
25,000 inhabitants, 33% lived in four cities with more than 100,000
inhabitants.
lived in Havana, making it the third-largest capital in the world in relation
to the total number of the nation’s inhabitants (after London and Vienna).
meat consumption per capita in Latin America (after Argentina and Uruguay) and
higher than most European countries.
mortality rate in Latin America, 33.4 per thousand born and the third lowest in
the world. It ranked ahead of France, Belgium, West Germany, Japan, Austria,
Italy, and Spain.
among the highest in the world at 63 years of age; compared to 52 in other
Latin American countries, 43 in Asia, and 37 in Africa.
report noted Cuba had the second highest level of literacy in Latin America and
higher than several countries in Europe.
Department of Commerce analysis, Cuba was “the most heavily capitalized
country in Latin America” and its “network of railways and highways
blanket the country.”
noted that Cuba had the third largest number of doctors per capita (one for
each 957 inhabitants) in Latin America, and more doctors per capita than
Britain, Holland and Italy.
access to houses in Latin America (and higher than Portugal, Spain, Greece, Ireland, and all
of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union), and second in Latin America, after Uruguay,
in per capita daily caloric consumption (2870 calories per person). This was
also higher than all Eastern European nations and three Western European
nations.
on the planet to have a 3D movie theater and a multiscreen theater (the Cinema
Radio Center).
stations (23) than any other country in Latin America, way ahead of much larger
countries such as Mexico (12 television stations) and Venezuela (10).
America, and ranked eighth in the world in number of radio stations (160),
ahead of countries such as Austria (83 radio stations), United Kingdom (62),
and France (50).
in the world to broadcast television in color. The US, of course, was the
first.
in Latin America, and the third country in the world with the most cars per
capita (one for every 38 inhabitants).
third in the world with the most electric home appliances per capita.
in Latin America and third in the world (after the US and England) with the most
kilometers of railway lines per square kilometer and the second in the total
number of radio receivers.
of all political hues. There were 18 daily newspapers in Havana alone. Bohemia magazine, with a circulation of
250,000, was the largest Spanish language weekly magazine in the world.
not escape from Cuba! Despite drastic immigration curbs set in place in the
1930s, when European immigrants almost matched the number of natural born
Cubans, during the entire decade of the 1950’s, Cuba was second in Latin
America in the number of immigrants per capita.
size, and small number of people (6.5 million inhabitants in 1958), Cuba ranked
as the 29th largest economy in the world, ahead of several European
nations.
one city in the world with movie theatres (358). New York and Paris were second
and third, respectively.
class comprising about a third of the population and 23% of the working class
was classified as “skilled.”
third in Latin America, behind only Venezuela and Brazil.
capita income in Latin America, exceeded only by Argentina and Venezuela (around
$550 a year). It was also higher than Italy, Japan, Ireland, Spain, and
Portugal and every single Eastern European nation in the Soviet bloc.
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