nPosted on July 15, 2020
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nThe first Cuban American – and the first Latina! – elected to Congress, in 1989.
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nThe person selected to give a Republican response to the 2011 and 2014 State of the Union addresses – in Spanish.
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nThe first Republican in the House to support same-sex marriage.
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nFormer Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was born in Cuba on this date in 1952, and she came to the U.S. – Floriday, specifically – when she was seven. Her maternal grandparents were Sephardic Jews who had been active in Cuba’s Jewish community, although Ros-Lehtinen herself was raised Catholic and is now Episcopalian.
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| Ros-Lehtinen and her husband |
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nIleana Ros-Lehtinen was elected to the Florida house in 1982, and that’s where she met her husband, also a politician. He was a Democrat but switched parties before the two married. One of their two children (now grown) is a transgender LGBT rights activist!
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nAlso on this date:
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nGummi Worm Day
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nSt. Swithin’s Day
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nMathematician Fibonacci’s birthday
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nPhysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s birthday
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nPainter Rembrandt van Rijn’s birthday
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nAnniversary of Twitter’s introduction
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nHis Majesty the Sultan’s Birthday in Brunei
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nnBe a Dork Day
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nPlan ahead:
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nCheck out my Pinterest boards for:
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nJuly holidays
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nJuly birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in July
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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nAugust holidays
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nAugust birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in August
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