L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019 LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear readers, I know that for L'Italo- Americano Readers, October will always be Italian Heritage Month, however, due to the "In- digenous People" politically cor- rect nomenclature currently in use in many California School Dis- tricts, any positive, beneficial and enduring history of Italian contri- butions to the culture of the United States will be whited out and only meat balls and mafia will remain. October is a good month for parents and program chairs of Ital- ian American organizations to ed- ucate themselves and their children or membership about our rich his- tory and heritage beyond Colum- bus, who currently has been de- clared "persona non gradita" by the Indigenous People or Amer- ica. In order to refresh your mem- ory and mine I am printing "31 Days of Italians" for October Her- itage Month: October 1: The Italian Immi- grant A day to honor every Italian who journeyed to America from Italy. October 2: Amadeo Pietro Gi- annini Established the branch banking system in America. October 3: Guglielmo Marconi Known as the Father of Radio for his experiments with long dis- tance wireless transmissions. October 4: Filippo Mazzei Supporter of American free- dom during American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson's inclusion of "all man are created equal" into the Declaration of Independence is a paraphrase of Mazzei's "All men are by nature equally free and independent." October 5: Antonio Meucci Original holder of the patent for the forerunner of today's tele- phone. October 6: Joe DiMaggio "The Yankee Clipper" led the New York Yankees to 9 World Championships. October 7: Mario Lanza Renowned tenor and film star in the mid-1950s. October 8: Gian Carlo Menotti Created the first opera for radio, and founder of the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Italy and Spo- leto Festival USA in South Car- olina. October 9: Father Pietro Ban- dini Missionary for Native Ameri- cans. In 1898 established Tonti- town, "a perfect example for col- onization," in Arkansas. October 10: Enrico Fermi Discovered radioactive ele- ments that heralded the nuclear age. October 11: Antonio Pasin Created Radio Flyer wagon. October 12: Christopher Columbus Navigator that changed the world, opening trade routes and al- lowing immigration from Europe to the Americas. October 13: Maria Montessori, M. D. Developed an educational method for teaching children. October 14: Henry Mancini awarded 20 Grammys and 4 Oscars for his film and television scores. October 15: Lee Iacocca Responsible for the turnaround of Chrysler Corporation in 1980s and established The Iacocca Foun- dation, which provide grants to fund diabetes research. October 16: Mario Andretti Record-setting race car driver with over 100 wins; and the only driver to win the Daytona 500, Indy 500, and Formula One. October 17: Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini First American citizen to be- come a saint. October 18: Enrico Caruso World's most acclaimed tenor in the early 1900s. October 19: Yogi Berra Baseball player, manager, and famous for his quotes, known as "yogi-isms." October 20: Frank Capra Acclaimed 20th century film di- rector, best known for It's a Won- derful Life. October 21: Arturo Toscanini One of the world's greatest or- chestra conductors. October 22: Giovanni da Ver- razzano Fist European explorer to enter the harbor of New York. October 23: Robert Mondavi Revolutionized the American wine industry. October 24: Fiorello La Guardia First three-term Mayor of New York City, and credited for chang- ing its landscape and building the foundation for the city's growth af- ter the Depression. October 25: Amerigo Vespucci Namesake of America. October 26: Geraldine Ferraro First woman to be nominated on a major party ticket as Vice President of the United States. October 27: Costantino Bru- midi Down as the "Michelangelo of the [U.S.] Capitol." October 28: Rocky Marciano The only Heavyweight World Champion to retire undefeated. October 29: Ezio Pinza Considered by many to be the world's greatest bassist of the early twentieth century. October 30: Andrea Palladio "Father of Architecture," wrote The Four Books on Architecture, the most famous and influential books on architecture of all time, and still in print. October 31: Your Favorite Ital- ian Celebrate someone not on list, but greatly admired. *** This 31 day list is merely the tip of a ton of Italian contributions to our culture and, in many cases, the world's. Name any subject from A to Z and it was probably achieved by the Italians first: even General Custer's Bugler at Little Bighorn, Giovanni Martini (John Martini), was an Italian who served from 1874 to 1904. After the trumpeter retired, he spent the rest of his days in Brook- lyn. The reason the Bighorn Bugler lived to tell his tale was that Gen. George Custer (1839-1876) or- dered John Martini to bring a mes- sage to Colonel Benteen asking for reinforcements and that providen- tial order saved him. Custer in 1876, shared Sheri- dan's campaign against Sioux un- der Sitting Bull. Surrounded by about 3,000 Indians, Custer and all 164 of his men were shot down at Little Big Horn in the fight known as "Custer's Last Stand." So, Dear Readers, if you are looking for more Italian Connec- tions just seek and you shall find...

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