USA – Greek Diaspora History
Greek American Facts
Top 10 Greek American Facts
Greek Americans make up the largest Greek diaspora community in the world. With over 1.3 million Greek Americans, they have accumulated almost 500 years of rich Greek diaspora history. Here is a list of the top 10 Greek American facts:
1. Greek Americans have a Full-Scale Replica of the Parthenon in Nashville
The full-scale replica of the Parthenon was built in 1897 and is located in Nashville, Tennessee. The replica is an incredibly accurate reproduction, even boasting a replica of the original 42-foot-tall gold-coated sculpture of Athena.
2. Greek Americans have eight Greektowns in the U.S.
Greektowns are often located in areas that have or once had a high Greek American population. They tend to showcase Greek American restaurants, cafés, bakeries, delis, museums, churches, and other cultural shops. Greektowns in the U.S. include Astoria in New York City, Greektown in Chicago, Greektown in Baltimore, Upper Darby in Pennsylvania, Tarpon Springs in Florida, Cleveland in Ohio, and Old Greek Town in Salt Lake City.
3. Greek Americans have the Saint Sofia Church
Saint Sophia is a magnificent Greek Orthodox Church located in Los Angeles and named after one of the grandest churches to have ever been built in Constantinople, during the Byzantine Empire. Saint Sofia was built in 1952 by Charles Skouras, one of the many successful Greek Americans in Hollywood.
4. Greek Americans have the St Nicholas Church in Ground Zero
The original St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was founded in 1916 but was completely destroyed in 2001 during the 911 terrorist attack. Construction has begun to rebuild the church but has unfortunately halted as a result of a dire financial state consuming the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
5. There have been many famous Greek American actors
Jennifer Anniston, Zach Galifianakis, John Stamos, Tina Fey, Billy Zane, Betty White, Michael Chiklis, Telly Savalas, and Maria Callas are just a few actors with Greek heritage to have graced Hollywood.
6. There have been many famous Greek American athletes
Many Greek American athletes have graced sports such as tennis, basketball, football (soccer), American football (NFL), baseball (MLB), hockey (NHL), and more. Notable Greek American athletes include Pete Sampras, Nikos Galis, Kosta Koufos, Kurt Rambis, Niko Koutouvides, Frank Klopas, Danielle Fotopoulos, Harry “the Golden Greek” Agganis, Nick Markakis, Aaron Miles, and Chris Chelios.
7. The U.S. once had a Greek American Vice President
A Greek American named Spiro Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the U.S., serving under Richard Nixon from 1969 to his resignation in 1973. Another well-known Greek American politician is Michael Dukakis. Dukakis is the only Greek American to have run for President, is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history, and only the second Greek American governor in U.S. history, after Spiro Agnew.
Other notable Greek American politicians include John Negroponte, John Podesta, Paul Sarbanes, Gus Bilirakis, Michael Bilirakis, and Olympia Snowe.
8. A Greek American invented the Pap test
Georgios Papanikolaou was a pioneer in cytopathology and early cancer detection. He’s most well-known for inventing the Pap smear, more commonly known as the Pap test. Although Georgios immigrated to the U.S. only one year prior to his death, the Greek American diaspora have adopted him as one of their own.
9. There are 20 Greek American Billionaires
The Greek diaspora community of the U.S. have many successful individuals among them. These include the following billionaires: Jim Davis, the Haseotes family, John Catsimatidis, Tom Gores, John Paul DeJoria, Dean Metropoulos, Alex Spanos, the Jaharis family, Peter Nicholas, George Marcus, Peter Angelos, George Argyros, Alec Gores, Peter Peterson, James Chanos, the Logothetis family, Roy Vagelos, the Demoulas family, the Kartsotis brothers, and Ted Leonsis.
10. The founding fathers once considered making the official language of U.S. Greek
Although it is widely considered a myth that the U.S. was one vote away from having Greek as it’s official language, reliable sources indicate that the idea was discussed. In 1855, an American writer and scholar, Charles Astor Bristed identified that a legislator had proposed that the U.S. should complete its independence by adopting a different language from that of the mother country (England), such as the Greek language. This notion was promptly dismissed by congress.
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