1837.   Rafael A. Cowley Valdés – Machado is born in Havana.

He belonged to a famous family of doctors, as his father doctor Ángel Cowley, was the most notable professor of Therapeutic in the Universidad de La Habana in the first half of the XIX century.

He got a degree in Medicine and Surgery and was a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine, Phisycs and Natural Sciences of Havana (Real Academia de Ciencias Médicas, Físicas y Naturales de La Habana) and of the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country (Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País).

He was one of the most eminets figures of the Cuban medicine in the second half of the 19 century and the first ten years of the next century.

1928.  Romana Elena Burguez González, known as “Elena Burke” in the artistic world is born in the neighborhood El Cerro, in La Habana.

Due to her temperament and the particular way of interpreting boleros and romantic songs she was described as “La Señora Sentimiento” and was also considered as one of the most emblematic voices of the Cuban song. 

The notable Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez once commented that Elena Burke, shows with her voice what she has inside and that is why she leaves her influence, because her interpretations impose the lyrics, the melody and the rhythm of the songs in the audience.