National Hispanic Heritage Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates and honors the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15th through October 15th, during this month there are celebrations with art, music, films, and festivals. 

Hispanic is someone who is a descendant of someone who is from a Spanish-speaking country. While Latino or Latina is someone who is a descendant of someone who is from a country in Latin America. 

It first started in June 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week by California Representative George Edward Brown, who submitted the bill that was easily passed by the House of Representatives. 

President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the bill on September 17, 1968 into law for National Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1987, California Representative Esteban Torres submitted the bill for it to be expanded from a week to a month. Although the bill did not make it, a similar bill was submitted by Senator of Illinois Paul Simon. The Senate passed the bill and was signed by President Ronald Reagon on August 17, 1988, it was also enacted as law and approved by Public Law 100-402. President George H. W. Bush was the first President to declare the 31-day as National Hispanic Heritage Month. 

The date September 15th was chosen because it is the anniversary of its independence from Spain in 1821 for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico declared independence from Spain on September 16, 1810. Chile declared its independence from Spain on September 18, 1810. And Belize declared their independence from Great Britain on September 21, 1981.