October is the traditional month for celebrating our Italian-American heritage, so I wanted to highlight the accomplishments of some great Italian scientists and innovators. Here are some of the inventions developed by Italians that we still use today:
Guglielmo Marconi invented the radio in 1901 and later went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909.
Another Italian physicist and chemist, Alessandro Volta, created the first electric battery in 1799. We can thank him for powering all our battery-operated gadgets and toys. The English words “volt” and “voltage” as a measure of electricity come from Alessandro Volta’s last name.
The telephone, contrary to popular belief, was first invented by Antonio Meucci, who had a famous patent controversy with Alexander Graham Bell in the 1870’s. Meucci had a temporary patent on the phone in 1871 which ran out before Bell got his patent approved in 1876, but the Meucci telephone was already working before Bell’s phone. You can visit the Meucci home on Staten Island to get the whole story and hear about the friendship between Meucci and Giuseppe Garibaldi, the unifier of Italy.

The barometer, which measures atmospheric pressure, was invented in 1643 by the Italian mathematician Evangelista Torricelli. His invention allowed for more accurate weather predictions in the 1600’s and is still used today.
The newspaper business started in Italy in 1566 with the publication of the Gazette in Venice. Although there were other papers published sporadically in Europe, the Gazette was considered the first regularly published newspaper.
The banking industry was developed by the Medici family in the 14th century, but the Medici’s only catered to other wealthy Italians. More recently in the 20th century, A.P. Giannini founded the Bank of America. He was the first banker to take a chance and offer banking services to middle class working people and Italian immigrants. His banking methods revolutionized the banking industry making it accessible to most Americans.
Other innovative Italians you may have heard of include Jacuzzi, Zamboni, Fibonacci, Maserati, Lamborghini, and Ferrari. Let’s celebrate our heritage by acknowledging the great contributions Italians have made to our modern way of life.
Sources:
Learnitalianpod.com
Famousscientists.org
Submitted by Charlene Pardo