Continuing on with my love of October: Rocktober, Oktoberfest, Halloween and don't forget it's also National Italian American Heritage Month. What does this mean for downtown? Nothing that I know of. But Columbus Day is October 12th so if you want to remember him and the contributions of Italian Americans visit Columbus Park at Adams and Third. Yes, there is a statue of Columbus and a plaque there in a tiny little park made possible by the Memphis Chapter of UNICO and the City of Memphis. Below are some interesting achievements and contributions of Italian Americans from the National Italian American Foundation website (www.niaf.org):
In all, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) made four voyages to the New World. On his third trip in 1498, he landed in Venezuela. It was the first time he actually set foot on the South American continent.
The New World was named "America" for Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512), the Florentine explorer and geographer who was a friend to Columbus. He sailed to the New World in 1499, landing in what is now Brazil. Vespucci was the first to advance the belief that the land discovered by Columbus was not India, but a new continent and for that, European cartographers named the New World in his honor.
Among the many Italian Americans who popularized American songs here and abroad are Frank Sinatra; Vic Damone (Vito Farinola); Dean Martin ( Dino Crocetti); Tony Bennett (Anthony Benedetto); Frankie Laine (Frank Lo Vecchio), Perry Como, Frankie Avalon (Frank Avalone), Bobby Rydell (Roberto Ridarelli), Connie Francis (Concetta Franconero), Bobby Darin (Walden Cassotto), Joanie James (Joan Babbo) and Jon Bon Jovi.
Charles Joseph Bonaparte founded the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1908, built the U.S. Navy into one of the strongest in the world and was the first Italian American appointed to a cabinet position, serving as Secretary of the Navy and later as U.S. Attorney General during Theodore Roosevelt's administration.
The Jacuzzi hot tub and spa were invented by the Jacuzzi family. whose family of seven sons and six daughters came to America in 1907. In 1915, they formed the Jacuzzi Brothers Incorporated, which supplied the American military with propellers. In 1926, they developed the deep well (jet) water pump that led to the famous whirlpool bath.
Mr. Coffee, the best-selling coffee maker in the world, was invented by Vince Marotta, who also developed a better way extract oil from coffee beans and invented the paper coffee filter. Since 1972, more than 50 million Mr. Coffees have been sold. An estimated 10 billion Mr. Coffee paper filters are sold annually.
Costantino Brumidi, (1805-1880) who emigrated to the United States in 1852, is the "Michelangelo" of the U.S. Capitol. Among his many achievements is the painting of the huge Capitol interior dome as well as the decoration of the President's Room, where Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Brumidi started his career in Rome where he became known for restoration of classic works. In 1855 he began working on the Capitol dome and dedicated the rest of his life to embellishing the Capitol.
Mother Frances Cabrini, the first American saint, founded 14 American colleges, 98 schools, 28 orphanages, eight hospitals, three training schools, and a score of other institutions with the help of over 4,000 sisters she recruited for the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, a group she also founded. Mother Cabrini emigrated to the US in 1889 and became a US citizen in 1909. She died in 1917 and was canonized in 1949.
Click on the photo above to enlarge it so you can read the plaque and see all of the donors' names.
