This is What's Trending Today....

Thursday marked the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States.

Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15 through October 15. It celebrates the history and culture of people with ancestry in Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas.

The observance started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week.

September 15 is an important day for many Latin American countries. Five of them -- Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua -- celebrate their independence on that day.

In addition, Mexico and Chile mark the anniversary of their independence within the 30-day period.

The hashtag #HispanicHeritageMonth trended Thursday on social media in the United States.

One Twitter user wrote, "Be proud of who you are and the culture you bring to the table. #HispanicHeritageMonth is about teaching others & showing pride."

Singer Camila Cabello is part of the American singing group Fifth Harmony. To mark the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, she published a story about her family. They immigrated to the United States when she was a child.

She wrote, "I am so proud to be Cuban-Mexican. This country was built on immigrants. People who were brave enough to start over."

Her comments have been retweeted almost 15,000 times on Twitter.

Many people reacted to the emotional story. One person wrote, "This story is so similar to my family's and I couldn't stop crying while reading."

Several U.S. lawmakers marked the start of Hispanic Heritage Month in a different way. They offered a bill to create an American Latino Museum in Washington, DC. The proposed museum would be part of the Smithsonian Institution.

The bill has support from the country's two main political parties.

Also on Thursday, the Pew Research Center published the latest information about the Hispanic population of the United States. It reported that 57 million Hispanics live in the U.S. That represents 18 percent of the total population.

The center also said that Hispanics are the second-fastest-growing group in the country, after Asians.

And that's What's Trending Today.

I'm Marsha James.

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bring to the table - expresson. to provide something that will be a benefit to others