This route to the New World missed the cod-rich Grand Banks There’s a 9-mile stretch of the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn leading to the Verrazzano Bridge with a small sign designing it as “Leif Ericson Drive.” It was so named ...

The late, great African American comedian Richard Pryor had a bit where he related that one of his ex-wives once caught him in flagrante delicto with another woman. Unfazed, Pryor looked at his enraged wife and said, "Now who you ...

Joe DiMaggio and actress Gina Lollobrigida greet crowds at New York's Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 14, 1991. Rosario's is behind the man with glasses.(AP Photo/Joe Major) Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day soliloquy comes to mind when I think back to ...

Francesco Lo Vecchio was the most successful singer to come out of Chicago. He sold millions of records, appeared in movies, had his own TV show and was a major part of the ’40s to ’69s era when Italian-Americans dominated ...

Frank Sinatra lived to 82, Connie Francis to 87 and Tony Bennett to 96. Like many other Italian-American singers they were blessed with longevity. At least three, however, were not. They apparently were under a maledizione (Italian curse). Russ Columbo ...

Alfred E. Smith Who were the pioneer U.S. government officials with Italian roots? The answers are more than names that belong in history books. In a tangible way they provide a measure of how far Italian-Americans have come in the ...