Three Maryland musicians play drums and sing to enjoy the music and dance of Cultura Planera, a Puerto Rican bomba y plena tradition

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La Vida Latina: Hispanic Heritage Quiz

How much do you know about the largest U.S. ethnic minority?

AARP

En español

Published June 21, 2021

10 Questions

La Vida Latina: Hispanic Heritage Quiz

[ {
  "question" : "As of 2020, Hispanics made up 18.4 percent of the U.S. population. How much did they make up in 1960?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "4 percent",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "8 percent",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "12 percent",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "16 percent",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "It’s a fairly rough estimate because the U.S. Census Bureau did not have a detailed method of counting Hispanics in 1960.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "In 1960, among the 50 states, California had the highest proportion of Hispanic residents (38.7 percent). What state tops the list today?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Arizona",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "California",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "New Mexico",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Texas",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Nearly half of New Mexico's residents — 49.3 percent, as of 2020 — are Hispanic.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who was the first president to acknowledge Hispanics as a voting bloc?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Dwight D. Eisenhower",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "John F. Kennedy",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Lyndon B. Johnson",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Richard M. Nixon",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The night before his assassination in 1963, JFK and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy greeted a cheering crowd of Mexican American activists at a Houston gala sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizens, then the nation's largest Latino civil rights group. JFK even persuaded Jackie to address the crowd in Spanish.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "In 1964, there were four Hispanics in Congress. How many are there in 2021?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "5",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "21",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "49",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "54",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "There are 47 Hispanics in the House of Representatives and seven in the Senate.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "In 1964, 9 percent of all major league baseball players were Hispanic. What was the percentage at the opening of the 2021 season?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "18 percent",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "28 percent",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "36 percent",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "45 percent",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "A total of 255 Latino players were on rosters when the 2021 season began, according to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who was the first Hispanic actor to win an Academy Award?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "José Ferrer",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Rita Hayworth",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Edward James Olmos",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Rosie Perez",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "José Ferrer won Best Actor in 1950 for Cyrano de Bergerac. He donated the Oscar to the University of Puerto Rico, which had awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1949.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who was the first Hispanic star of a network television show?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Desi Arnaz",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Cesar Romero",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Ricardo Montalban",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Freddie Prinze",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Desi Arnaz, in I Love Lucy (1951). In connection with the show, Arnaz is also generally credited, with Lucille Ball, as having invented the TV rerun.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who was the first Hispanic entertainer to be featured on the cover of Time magazine?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Rita Moreno",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Joan Baez",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Ricky Martin",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Eva Longoria",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Joan Baez was featured on the cover of the magazine's Nov. 23, 1962, issue. Of Baez, then just 21, Time said: \"Her voice is as clear as air in the autumn, a vibrant, strong, untrained and thrilling soprano.\"",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Who was the first Hispanic player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Luis Aparicio",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Orlando Cepeda",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Roberto Clemente",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Juan Marichal",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "On Dec. 31, 1972, Clemente — who that year had passed the 3,000-hit milestone in his 18th season with the Pittsburgh Pirates — chartered a plane for a humanitarian mission to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff, killing the baseball legend and all four crew members. The following year, Clemente was inducted into the Hall of Fame.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "What was the first Fortune 500 company to have a Hispanic CEO?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Chiquita Brands International",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Coca-Cola",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "International Business Machines",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "National Intergroup",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Robert Goizueta became the first Hispanic CEO of a Fortune 500 firm when he took the helm of the Coca-Cola Co. in 1981. On his death in 1997, the New York Times credited him with \"building one of the greatest generators of shareholder wealth in corporate history.\"",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

Quiz Progress

0 Correct

0 Incorrect