We The Italians | Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #5

Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #5

Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #5

  • WTI Magazine #5 Nov 14, 2013
  • 1872

WTI Magazine #5    2013 Nov, 15

Author : Paolo Battaglia      Translation by:

 

November 11, 1974 - Birth of Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio, the movie idol from many blockbusters like "Titanic", "The Aviator", "Django Unchained", was born in Los Angeles to Irmelin and George DiCaprio. His father was a fourth generation Italian American, whose family came from Campania. In his movies he played an Italian American character only in "Catch Me If You Can", in which he plays the escape artist Frank Abagnale Jr. He developed a close relationship with one of the most important Italian American directors of all time, Martin Scorsese, with whom he worked in 5 movies from "Gangs of New York" to the yet to be released "The Wolf of Wall Street".

November 12, 1954 - Ellis Island closed
Ellis Island stopped serving as the chief immigration station for the United States. More than 3 million Italians were among the twenty million immigrants who went through Ellis Island in its 62 years of operation. Nothing, not even the miserable ocean crossing, engendered more fear in emigrants than the possibility that they would be turned away at Ellis Island. Departing from their ships, they entered a network of rooms and buildings and the new arrivals were most afraid of the medical examination.

November 13, 1909 - Cherry Mine Disaster
In some areas, mining jobs were among the most popular for Italians. In 1910 between 10 and 20 percent of the workers in the coal mines of West Virginia, the Southwest and Midwest were Italian. Except in Pennsylvania, where the Slavs were in the majority, Italians were the largest group of immigrants employed in coal mines. History is punctuated by terrible accidents that killed hundreds of miners. In Cherry, Illinois on November 13, 1909, 259 miners died; at least seventy-three were Italians. The photograph shows the desperation of the relatives of the dead, crying by the simple wooden coffins holding the recovered bodies.

November 15, 1791 - Georgetown University opens
Georgetown is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit institute of higher learning in the United States. It was founded by John Carroll in 1791 and one of its first presidents was the Italian Giovanni Grassi. He studied in the seminary of Bergamo and in 1799 he joined the Jesuits as a novice and in 1810 he reached the United States where he met John Carroll. From 1811 to 1817 he led Georgetown University and he decided to open this catholic institution to non-catholic students. He also opened the new library with more than 5000 books.

November 16, 1908 - Arturo Toscanini debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York
Toscanini accepted to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the 1908-1909 season. In New York, Toscanini was an instant favorite, and remained until the end of the 1914-1915 season. During Toscanini's tenure at the Metropolitan Opera, he gave the world premiere of Puccini - La Fanciulla del West. In 1915, Toscanini returned to support Italy during World War 1. He came back to the United States in 1937 and the radio station NBC created the NBC Symphony Orchestra for Toscanini to direct. The orchestra gave weekly radio broadcasts.

November 17, 1944 - Birth of Danny DeVito

Daniel Michael "Danny" DeVito, Jr. was born on November 17, 1944 the son of Julia (Moccello) and Daniel DeVito, owners of several small businesses in Asbury Park, New Jersey. His first important roles were in the Italian movie "La Mortadella" with Sofia Loren, Gigi Proietti and another actress with less known Italian American origin: Susan Sarandon. He then played Martini in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". He then gained prominence for his portrayal of taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi (1978–1983), for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.