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When the Moon Hits Your Eye or Spaghetti in the Sky
Spaghetti al sugo di carne
We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
President John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962
I often find myself wondering what my grandfather, Gaetano Crocetti, thought as he sailed to America in 1913. As he voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean from Naples to New York he must have looked up from the deck of the Hamburg and gazed at the Moon. I bet he never dreamed he would have two sons, and of those two Italian-Americans, one would help send men to the Moon and the other would become world famous singing about the Moon. Read the remainder of this entry »
Philip Mazzei and the Declaration of Independence
Philip Mazzei
b. December 25, 1730 – d. March 19, 1816
Tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi e indipendenti. Quest’eguaglianza e necessaria per costituire un governo libero. Bisogna che ognuno sia uguale all’altro nel diritto naturale.
-Philip Mazzei – Virginia Gazette, 1774
All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government. All men must be equal to each other in natural law.
-translation by Thomas Jefferson
These are the words of Philip (Filipo) Mazzei, Italian emigre, surgeon, businessman, friend and neighbor of Thomas Jefferson. It is so easy for us to think that everyone who lived in the United States prior to the Revolutionary War hailed from England. That is, however not the case. Read the remainder of this entry »