1. Famous Immigrants
The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources―because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples.
―Lyndon B. Johnson

2. John Jacob Astor Born in Germany to the family of a poor butcher.
Moved to London, learned English, and saved enough money to move to America.
Entered the fur trade.
By the time of his death, he was the richest man in America.

3. Andrew Carnegie Born in Scotland Father lost job as a weaver
Mother went to work and saved enough money to bring family to America
Worked in a cotton factory for $1.20 a week
Became involved in iron business during Civil War
He funded more than 2,500 public libraries later in life

4. John Muir Born in Scotland Moved to Wisconsin
Was blinded in an accident
Walked 1,000 miles from Indianapolis, Indiana, to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Traveled to Alaska
Loved nature and campaigned for the creation of the national parks

5. Harry Houdini Born Ehrich Weisz in Budapest, Hungary
One of 7 children in a poor family
Worked on the streets doing simple magic tricks, shining shoes, selling newspapers and getting whatever money he could
Left home at the age of 12 to make it easier on his family

6. Enrico Fermi Born in Italy during the reign of Benito Mussolini
Married to a Jewish lady - worried his wife would be sent to concentration camp
Because he was a famous nuclear scientist, Italy would not let him immigrate
Escaped to the United States
Worked on the Manhattan Project – the U. S. secret project to build the first atomic bomb.

7. Golda Meir Born in Russia Was Jewish Escaped when she was 5 years old
Lived with her sister in Denver to avoid an arranged marriage
Believed in the of a Jewish nation of Israel
Became the Prime Minister of Israel

8. Irving Berlin Born in a poverty – stricken Jewish ghetto in Russia
Home burned by government
Immigrated to U.S. when he was five. Sold newspapers to help support his family
Sang songs in German, Irish, and Italian to attract attention to his papers
Among his other contributions to America, his song “God Bless America” is one of the most popular American patriotic songs ever written.

9. Isaac Bashevis Singer
Born in Poland in a poor, Jewish section of Warsaw
Wrote about the dangers of Nazism
Wrote Children’s books
Won the Nobel Prize for Literature

10. Felix Frankfurter Born in Vienna, Austria
Emigrated when he was 12 years old to a crowded tenement in New York City
Worked his way through school and graduated from Harvard Law School
Appointed to the Supreme Court by President Franklin Roosevelt

11. Edward Teller Immigrant from Hungary
Major architect of the hydrogen bomb

12. Niels Bohr Born in Denmark
Came to America and worked on the first atomic bomb

13. Albert Einstein Born in Germany
Came to America to avoid the Nazi government
Theory of Relativity redefined the ideas of modern physics

14. Nikola Tesla Immigrated from Croatia Worked with Thomas Edison
Inventor of the radio

15. Alexander Graham Bell
Born in Scotland, emigrated to Canada, then Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked with deaf people
Inventor of the telephone, graphophone, and other designs

16. Madeleine Albright Born in the Czech Republic Had a Jewish background
Went through Ellis Island
Became the first woman Secretary of State in the United States

17. Elizabeth Arden Born in Ontario, Canada as Florence Nightingale Graham
Created a cosmetic line of products
Had the first destination beauty spa in the U. S.
Business woman