Notable Hispanics

Notable Hispanics: Esteban Bellan

Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1850, Esteban Bellan would grow up to become the first Latin American to play professional baseball in the United States. Bellan reportedly learned the game from American sailors, who brought baseball to Cuba.
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Notable Hispanics: Oscar Hijuelos

Born to Cuban immigrants in 1951, New York City native Oscar Hijuelos would grow up to become the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. He won that prestigious award for his second novel, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love," a bestseller that earned the author international acclaim. The book would later be turned into a film starring Antonio Banderas and Armand Assante, and in 2005 the author himself adapted the novel for the stage.
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Notable Hispanics: Octaviano Larrazolo

Octaviano Larrazolo was the first Hispanic to serve in the United States Senate. A native of Allende in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Larrazolo was taken to the United States in 1870 by J.B. Salpoint, a French-born bishop who instructed the young Larrazolo in theology in Tucson, Arizona.
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Notable Hispanics: Carlos Santana

Legendary musician Carlos Santana was born in 1947 in the town of Autlan de Navarro, Mexico. The son of an accomplished violinist, Santana learned to play the guitar at the age of 8, and it wasn't long before the young guitarist began playing in clubs.
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