The Contributions of Italians to
America
Christopher
Columbus
Christopher
Columbus




Landed in San Salvador in 1492.
He is responsible for finding the
Americas.
We now celebrate a holiday in his
name on the second Monday of each
October.
It is in honor of his October 12th
discovery that eventually led to our
country’s founding.
Giovanni Da
Verrazano
Giovanni Da
Verrazano




Born in Tuscany, Italy in 1485.
He was a Florentine Explorer sailing
under the French Flag.
He was the first European to sight
New York.
He set sail in January of 1524 with
two French Vessels.
Giovanni Da
Verrazano




In March he arrived in Cape Fear
North Carolina.
He was the first to find New York Bay
and Block Island.
He didn’t get the credit that he
deserved. It was named after Henry
Hudson.
85 years later in 1609 was when
Hudson named it after himself.
William Paca
William Paca





Born October 31, 1740
Went to Philadelphia College. (Later
became U Penn.)
Provincial Legislature (1768-1774)
Continental Congress (1774-1779)
He signed the Declaration of
Independence.
William Paca




In the Continental Congress, he
contributed to the Constitution.
He proposed some twenty
amendments to it.
1789 he was appointed as a U.S.
District Judge.
Held this position for 10 years until
his death in 1799.
Antonio Meucci
Antonio Meucci




Alexander Graham Bell?
He was the man credited with the
discovery of the telephone.
It should have been credited to
Meucci.
Born near Florence in April 1808.
Antonio Meucci




He invented the telephone in 1849,
and filed his first patent caveat in
1871.
This set into motion a chain of
mysterious events.
These events weren’t so well
documented though.
That is why not many people know
about it.
Antonio Meucci




He discovered that he could hear his
friend talking through a piece of
copper wire running between them.
He spent ten years bringing his
discovery to a practical stage.
He had a big problem with the
English language though.
Financial trouble also plagued him.
Antonio Meucci



He was in a steamship accident, in which
he was severely burned.
His wife proceeded to sell his telephone
invention as well as other working
inventions for a price of SIX DOLLARS!
After he was well he tried to get these
things back. He was told they were sold to
“an unknown young man.”
Antonio Meucci



He didn’t have the money for the
patent, so he kept renewing his
caveat.
He tried to show the potential of his
invention to Western Union Telegraph
Co.
He was told that they had no time for
his invention.
Antonio Meucci



In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell filed
his patent.
Meucci had his lawyer protest the
patent.
He was informed that his documents
regarding the talking telegraph had
been lost.
Antonio Meucci


Later investigations show that there
were illegal relations with the patent
company and Bell’s company.
It was revealed that Bell agreed to
pay Western Union 20 percent of his
profits.
Antonio Meucci


He brought bell to court in 1886, but
the case kept getting postponed,
until his death in 1896.
The case was then dropped and that
was that.
Charles J.
Bonaparte
Charles J.
Bonaparte




Born in Baltimore, Maryland on June
9th 1851.
He received a law degree from
Harvard University.
After that he began his career in
jurisprudence.
In 1908 President Roosevelt
appointed him the 46th Attorney
General of The United States.
Charles J.
Bonaparte



He was in Charge of Trust Busting.
He didn’t have a permanent
investigative staff.
The justice department was limited
to hiring only temporary
investigators. Coming from the
Secret Service.
Charles J.
Bonaparte


July 28th, 1908 Roosevelt made his
investigative force a permanent
subdivision of the Department of
Justice.
In 1935 what began as a 23 man
unit under Bonaparte, was renamed
the Federal Bureau of investigation.
Riccardo
Giacconi
Riccardo
Giacconi



The Physics Nobel Prize Winner in
2002.
A research professor in X-ray
astronomy research.
At this position he was the lead
administrator of groups that build
astronomical observatories.
Riccardo
Giacconi