37 American Icons Who You Might Not Know Were Immigrants

Just a few of the people that have made America great, presented by Getty Images.

1. Albert Einstein, Germany

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The the Nobel Prize–winning theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity immigrated to the United States as a German Jew, just a few years before the Holocaust and the height of World War II. He was granted permanent residency in the US in 1935 and citizenship in 1940.

2. Sergey Brin, Russia

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The Google co-founder emigrated with his family from the Soviet Union in 1979 to escape religious persecution.

3. Anousheh Ansari, Iran

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The engineer, entrepreneur, and space tourist was born in Mashhad and immigrated to the United States as a teenager in 1984.

4. Madeleine Albright, Czechoslovakia

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Before she became the first female US secretary of state, Albright arrived as an immigrant to New York's Ellis Island in 1948.

5. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austria

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After serving a year in the Austrian Army, Schwarzenegger traveled to the United States in 1968 where he found success as a professional bodybuilder, actor, and politician. He was granted citizenship in 1983.

6. Elie Wiesel, Romania

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The Romanian-born author and concentration camp survivor moved to New York City in 1955 and became an American citizen in 1963.

7. Gloria Estefan, Cuba

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Born in Havana in 1957, Estefan immigrated with her family to Miami as a toddler during the Cuban Revolution. She became a United States citizen in 1974.

8. Padma Lakshmi, India

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The author, model, actress, and Top Chef host was born in Chennai in 1970 and traveled to the United States with her mother in 1974.

9. Sundar Pichai, India

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The Google CEO was born in Madurai in 1972 and came to the United States in 1993 to study at Stanford University.

10. Irving Berlin, Russia

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Before Irving Berlin made a name for himself as a songwriter and composer, he and his family escaped Jewish persecution in Russia in 1893 and eventually settled in New York City.

11. Arianna Huffington, Greece

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The co-founder and former editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post was born in 1950 in Athens and moved to the United States in 1980.

12. Bob Hope, England

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Before he was a beloved entertainer and television personality, Hope and his family emigrated from England to Cleveland in 1907.

13. Nikola Tesla, modern-day Croatia

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The inventor and electrical engineer was born in 1856 in what is now Croatia, and immigrated to the United States in 1884.

14. M. Night Shyamalan, India

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The director was born in the small Indian town of Mahé and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1970.

15. Yo-Yo Ma, France

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The son of Chinese parents, Ma was born in Paris in 1955. In 1962, when he was 7, the music prodigy moved with his family to New York City. He performed at Barack Obama's presidential inauguration ceremony in 2009.

16. Kumail Nanjiani, Pakistan

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The comedian and actor was born in Karachi in 1978 and traveled to the United States in 1996 to study at Grinnell College in Iowa, where he completed a double major in computer science and philosophy.

17. Fareed Zakaria, India

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The journalist and author was born in Mumbai in 1964 and journeyed to the United States to receive his Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in 1986.

18. Andrew Carnegie, Scotland

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Before establishing himself as a pillar of American industry, Carnegie emigrated with his parents in 1848 from Dunfermline, Scotland, to Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

19. Joseph Pulitzer, Hungary

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The newspaper publisher and founder of the Pulitzer Prize emigrated from Pest, Hungary, to Boston in 1864 at the age of 17.

20. Jerry Yang, Taiwan

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Before co-founding Yahoo! in 1994, Yang immigrated to San Jose, California, from Taipei in 1978. The only word of English Yang knew at the time was "shoe."

21. Michael J. Fox, Canada

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The actor and activist was born during 1961 in Edmonton and eventually relocated to Los Angeles in 1979 at the age of 18.

22. Natalie Portman, Israel

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The Oscar-winning actress, born in Jerusalem in 1981 as Neta-Lee Hershlag, moved with her family to Washington, DC, when she was 3.

23. Mila Kunis, Ukraine

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The actress know, for her iconic That '70s Show character, immigrated with her family to Los Angeles from Chernivtsi in 1991 at the age of 7.

24. Charlize Theron, South Africa

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Born in Benoni, the actress traveled to the United States in 1994 to pursue a career in entertainment. She was granted US citizenship in 2007.

25. Jim Carrey, Canada

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The actor and comedian was born in Newmarket in 1962 and traveled to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue a career in entertainment.

26. Salma Hayek, Mexico

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The actress, born Salma Hayek Jiménez in Coatzacoalcos, traveled to Los Angeles in 1991 and became a US citizen in 2013.

27. Sofía Vergara, Colombia

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The actress and model was born in Colombia in 1972 and moved to Miami in 1994. She was granted her American citizenship after receiving a perfect score on her citizenship test.

28. Willem de Kooning, Netherlands

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The renowned abstract-expressionist painter was born in Rotterdam in 1904 and moved to New York City in 1927.

29. John Muir, Scotland

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Before becoming an influential advocate for the preservation of US wilderness, including Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park, the Sierra Club founder made the journey from Scotland to the United States in 1849.

30. Khaled Hosseini, Afghanistan

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The author and physician published his first book, The Kite Runner, in 2003, which draws inspiration from his childhood experience in Afghanistan. He and his family formally immigrated to the United States in 1980 when he was 15.

31. Patrick Ewing, Jamaica

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The Hall of Fame basketball player was born in Kingston in 1962 and traveling to the United States in 1975 to live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

32. Mariano Rivera, Panama

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The 13-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion first traveled to the United States in 1990 after he signed a deal with the New York Yankees. At the time, Rivera had never left his home of Panama before and spoke no English.

33. Joni Mitchell, Canada

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The musician, born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, moved to the United States during in mid-1960s.

34. Eddie Van Halen, Netherlands

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The rock guitarist and co-founder of the band Van Halen was born in Nijmegen and immigrated to Pasadena, California, in 1962.

35. Carlos Santana, Mexico

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The guitar player and songwriter was born in Autlán de Navarro in 1947 and traveled to San Francisco in the early 1960s. He became an American citizen in 1965.

36. Wyclef Jean, Haiti

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The musical artist, born Nel Ust Wyclef Jean in Croix-des-Bouquets, immigrated with his family as a 9-year-old in 1982 to Brooklyn, New York.

37. Melania Trump, Slovenia

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The current first lady immigrated to the United States in 1996 to pursue a career in modeling. She was granted full citizenship in 2006.

See more pictures of iconic American immigrants at Getty Images.