Christopher Columbus – probably the most famous Italian known to Americans, this controversial figure is considered by many to be a hero for his “discovery” of the Americas. To others, he should be known for the practice of enslaving and exterminating the indigenous peoples who occupied “The New World”

Joe Dimaggio (1914 - ) Known as “Joltin’ Joe, he is played for the New York Yankees and is one of the most popular men ever to play Major League Baseball.         

Vince Lombardi (1913 – 1970) One of the most celebrated & motivational coaches in football./p>

Rudolph W. Giuliani The 107^th mayor of New York City.

Geraldine Ferraro - In 1984 she became the 1^st woman to be nominated by a major political party to run for Vice President of the United States.

Mario Cuomo – In 1982 he became the 52^nd governor of New York, serving 12 years as one of that state’s most popular public servants.

William Paca - One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In 1782 he became the first Italian American to be elected Governor of a state (Maryland)

Francis Ford Coppola (1939 -  ) – Academy Award winning director, writer and producer.   His films include “The Godfather” trilogy, “Apocalypse Now”, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, and “Patton”./p>

Joseph Barbera – cartoon creator with William Hanna (Scottish-American) of “The Jetsons”, “Tom & Jerry”, “The Flintstones”, “Yogi Bear”, “Huckleberry Hound”, and many other cartoon characters. He (along with Hanna) received seven Oscars. Many of their works are still seen on Saturday mornings everywhere.

Leonardo DaVinci (1452 – 1519) – painter, sculptor, inventor, one of the most famous men in the world.

Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci (1170 - 1250) – Educated in North Africa where his father was a diplomat, he recognized the value of Hindu and Arabic decimal place-value systems and introduced them to Europe, revitalizing mathematics.  He is most known for his fibonnacci numbers and fibonnacci sequence today.

Galileo Galilei(1564 – 1642) Pioneer in Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy.

Alessandra Giuseppi Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745 ) Because he did not speak until he was 4 years old his parents thought he was “retarded”, but he went on to become one of the greatest minds in physics. He invented, among many things, electric cells known to us today as batteries. The “volt”, a unit of electromotive force that moves electric current is named after Volta.

Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) – She was the 1^st woman in Italy to qualify as a physician. She developed a system to teach “defective” children to read & write which led her to question “normal” education. Her ideas for a “Children’s House” which would be a stimulating environment where children would learn to take responsibility for their own learning can be found all over the world today.

Edward J. DeBartolo (1946 -) – inventor of the shopping mall.