Patented the “chromoscopic adapter for television equipment,” a device used to turn black and white TVs into color TVs
Prompted by WW2, the U.S. govt makes an agreement with the Mexican govt to supply temporary workers for American agricultural work.
Angry American soldiers in Southern California raid Hispanic neighborhoods looking for Mexican American men in zoot suits. These events start a series of events known as the ”zoot suit riots.”
A post-war wave of Puerto Rican migration to the United States begins. More than one million Puerto Ricans live in New York City now — more than in San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital.
8 yrs. before Brown vs. Board of Education, Mexican Americans in Orange County CA, win victory over California school districts in Menendez vs. Westminster, which found that “Mexican schools” are unconstitutional.
The first Puerto Rican Governor, Jesus Pinero appointed by President Truman.
The U.S. Congress allows Puerto Rico to elect its governors by popular vote; Muñoz Marín is elected to the first of four terms. His economic development program, Operation Bootstrap, industrializes and urbanizes the island through low wages and tax concessions to U.S. investors. The program also promotes migration to the mainland.