Besides the Roman Empire and opera, what mark have the Italians made?!1 n/t

[UTUSN]

[Wounded Bear]

1. I kind of like espresso...

of course, I always get Americanos.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Wonderful food and wine.

[UTUSN]

3. Anything else?!1 I don't think they like dogs the way the French do. n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Guiseppe de Stephano....

My 2nd favorite opera singer, he of the Golden Voice.

Giuseppe Di Stefano (24 July 1921 – 3 March 2008) was an Italian operatic tenor who sang professionally from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. He was known as the "Golden voice" or "The most beautiful voice", as the true successor of Beniamino Gigli.
He was also known for his long-term performance and recording association and brief romantic episode with the soprano Maria Callas.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Did I mention he is singing a piece by that great opera composer Puccini?????

Sublime music.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci

Some pretty great filmmakers too - Felini, Lina Wertmuller

[UTUSN]

5. DiCAPPRIO?!1 n/t

[kentauros]

6. The most memorably-shaped country.

Kind of hard not to pick it out on a map

[Baitball Blogger]

49. The Kinky boot of the Mediterranean.

[kentauros]

50. These Boots Are Made for Walken

[OrwellwasRight]

7. Fascism.

Little known fact that Hitler copied some of best fascist stuff from Mussolini.

But here is a better one: Art. We have really good art.

Film: Fellini, Rossellini
Sculpture:Michelangelo
Painting: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Caravaggio
Literature: Dante, Calvino, Eco
Architecture: some Roman canals and coliseums are still in use

Also:
Birthplace of the Renaissance
Science! Galileo Gallilei
Religious Repression: The Catholic Church
Capital Accumulation through Foreign Trade: Florence, Venice
Canals: Venice
Fashion: Salvatore Ferragamo, Franco Sarto, Gucci
Cars: Fiat

[Recursion]

10. The aquaduct

[mackerel]

11. Gelato!!!!!!!!

It makes up for everything else.

[OriginalGeek]

26. I entered the thread just to say that

but I'll add tiramisu.

Oh and I will happily take the cannoli.

[mackerel]

33. me too!

[MrScorpio]

12. Marconi's Wireless, Macaroni, Rice-A-Roni, Martini & Rossi and Sophia Loren

[KamaAina]

28. Um, Rice-A-Roni is the San Francisco treat

although it does come from SF's significant Italian heritage, along with Ghirardelli chocolate, Lawrence Ferlinghetti of Beat fame, and Joe DiMaggio.

Fun fact: The Beat movement was, not surprisingly, originally headquartered in Greenwich Village. During a western road trip, Ferlinghetti pointed out that California had access to plenty of cheap Chablis. From that point forward, SF's North Beach was Beat Central. (Ferlinghetti is still among the quick, in his 90s! And City Lights Bookstore has not yet succumbed to skyrocketing SF rents.)

[El Supremo]

52. So is Tony Bennett!

Anthony Dominick Benedetto

[KamaAina]

53. He just left his heart in SF

he's from Queens.

[mike in raleigh]

13. Ferraris and Lamborghinis?

[elleng]

14. molti pasta

[The Second Stone]

15. Italian food. Yum.

Wine. Art. Fashion. Architecture.

[jmowreader]

16. Astronomy?

And let us not forget...



The elixir of LIFE, sir!

[meow2u3]

64. That's not tomato sauce

THIS is tomato sauce (or at least the tomatoes to make sauce)!
?itok=pr_HtTb4

[sarge43]

17. Venice n/t

[hobbit709]

18. Leornardo.

[underahedgerow]

19. Galileo.... His adaptation of lenses for viewing the planetary universe changed things

a wee bit in history. The Galileo museum in Florence is mind-blowing. He's also known for his medical research and models of the human body.

[underahedgerow]

20. Romans were the first to pave roads.... remnants of the Appian way are still visible

in Rome and indeed, in obscure areas throughout Europe.

Roman roads still have influence all over the known Universe actually.

The size of Roman roads were consistent with the sizes of carts, the axel widths, which continue to this day on our modern roads.

Since the Space Shuttle must be transported via public roads to launch, it is necessary for it to be of certain size, ergo, Roman roads are responsible for the size of the Space shuttle....

[Paladin]

21. Google Orson Welles' "Cuckoo Clock" speech from "The Third Man."

Rumors still maintain that Welles wrote it himself. No one ever described Italy's monumental contributions to civilization better.

[Lars39]

22. Luxottica

Eyeglass frames monopoly.

[femmocrat]

23. If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it:

[rocktivity]

24. Bon Jovi's singer and guitarist are each half Italian

and the drummer is one quarter Italian.



(l-r) Guitarist Richie Sambora, drummer Tico Torres, singer Jon Bon Jovi. Jews are to thank for keyboardist Dave Bryan.


rocktivity

[FSogol]

25. Does Monica Bellucci count?

[Iggo]

61. Oh, baby!

[closeupready]

27. The Bialetti stovetop espresso maker. Parmigianno-Reggiano.

Cinzano. Prosciutto di Parma. Gucci.

[Arugula Latte]

29. Fashion (Milan), paparazzi, world domination of pizza

and just generally being the most awesome country on the planet.

[eppur_se_muova]

30. Um, the Renaissance ? nt

[malthaussen]

41. Yeah, but the Renaissance wasn't original...

... the whole shtick was about getting back to classical roots and resurrecting the Good Old Days. That's like saying the 70's were good for giving us Oldies but Goodies.

-- Mal

[sakabatou]

31. Newspapers, denim, electric batteries and my personal fave, pianos

[Major Nikon]

32. Espresso

[clarice]

34. Roman candles?

[Art_from_Ark]

35. Um, the Renaissance?

[lame54]

36. Martin Scorcese

[mopinko]

37. dating an italian.

the man could be charging for his services.

[hay rick]

38. bruschetta

[Brother Buzz]

39. Concrete

The Pantheon and the Colosseum were both built with a crude concrete. A concrete that may not pass present day engineering standards, but it did its job back in the day.

[malthaussen]

40. Pasta

Oh, sorry, that was the Chinese.

-- Mal

[eShirl]

42. They were Spartacus!

[lunatica]

43. Tony Soprano

[ok_cpu]

51. Let Paulie tell us about the gift of Italian cuisine NSFW

We'd all be drinking "just coffee".

[WinkyDink]

44. Sewer systems. Beat THAT.

[mythology]

45. An Italian left me with a great big smile today

Granted it was with his demise, but I don't think anybody can deny Scalia left a (skid)mark on the U.S. political system with his hatemongering.

[Pakhet]

46. has anyone mentioned banking yet?

They dominated the banking world during medieval and Renaissance times. The oldest bank in the world is Italian and been operating since 1472

on edit: about the only wines I can drink without having a nasty reaction are Italian too, so there's that very important thing

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

63. Monte dei Paschi di Siena

yep!

[cloudbase]

47. Moto Guzzis

[jpak]

48. The Olive Garden

[El Supremo]

54. Enrico Fermi

Who created the world's first nuclear reactor.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

55. Some fun TV shows available on streaming:

Especially Commissario Montalbano, a Sicilian police detective who solves crimes in gorgeous settings with unpredictable sidekicks and occasionally eccentric crooks and victims.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

56. They've dealt with a sinking city for centuries....

[kairos12]

57. Sophia Loren. Mike drop.

[rug]

58. Scalia. And Mussolini.

[UTUSN]

66. I'm always flummoxed about my threads, and about who "gets" me. Thanks. n/t

[rug]

67. You're one of my favorite posters.

[PonyUp]

59. Rocky Balboa, the Italian Stallion nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

60. Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli

[clarice]

62. Skid marks? nt

[meow2u3]

65. The barometer, invented by Toricelli (not the former Senator)

http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventors/a/Barometer.htm