1

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Image: Tom Def

Let’s kick it off with someone everybody knows. In case the excessive use of consonants in his last name wasn’t enough of a clue, Arnold Schwarzenegger was born and raised in Austria, where he built a successful career in bodybuilding. After winning major bodybuilding titles, he moved to the U.S., where he continued competing and later transitioned into acting. He became a U.S. citizen in 1983 and went on to serve as Governor of California from 2003 to 2011.

2

Elizabeth Taylor

Image: Daniele Levis Pelusi

One of the brightest stars of 1950s Hollywood, Elizabeth Taylor is known for her unforgettable performances in classics such as Cleopatra , Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Born in London in 1932 to American parents from Arkansas, Taylor held dual British-American citizenship from birth. Although she was initially raised in the UK, her family returned to the U.S. when World War II broke out. There, she began what would become a triumphant acting career, earning her first starring role at age 12 in National Velvet .

3

Charlize Theron

Image: barendlotter

Born in Benoni, in what was then the Transvaal province of South Africa, Charlize Theron began her career as a model and later trained as a dancer. While trying (and failing) to get into the film industry, she got her breakthrough thanks to her not being American: she famously caught the attention of a talent agent while arguing with a bank teller who refused to cash her check because she was a foreigner. She became a U.S. citizen in 2007 and has retained her South African citizenship.

4

Liam Neeson

Image: K. Mitch Hodge

Liam Neeson was born and raised in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, and started his career as a theater performer in Belfast and Dublin. After being cast in a minor role in the film Excalibur (1981), he built a successful career in both the UK and the U.S. Neeson acquired American citizenship in 2009 and said he was inspired by the overwhelming support he received from Americans following the tragic death of his wife, Natasha Richardson.

5

Cary Grant

Image: thomas cook

One of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Cary Grant was born Archibald Alec Leach in Bristol, England. He first came to the U.S. as a teenager in 1920 as part of a theater troupe, and eventually transitioned into film, becoming famous for his romantic comedies before expanding into other genres. In 1942, he became a U.S. citizen and legally changed his name to Cary Grant.

6

Maureen O’Hara

Image: Mike Fox

Maureen O’Hara might not have been born an American, but she earned her place in one of the most American film genres of all: the Western. Born Maureen FitzSimons in Dublin, Ireland, she got her first major role in Alfred Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn (1939), where she was billed as Maureen O’Hara, a stage name chosen for her by the studio. She rose to stardom soon after with her leading role in John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley (1941), and went on to become iconic in Westerns and adventure films. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1946.

7

Helen Mirren

Image: Hulki Okan Tabak

Ilyena Lydia Mironoff was born in the UK as part of an exiled Russian noble family who eventually changed their surname to Mirren. She started her career as a theater performer in the Royal Shakespeare Company, and went on to achieve major success in film and television. Though she became a U.S. citizen in 2017, she had considered herself American for a long time. In an interview, she revealed that witnessing the 9/11 attacks in New York City gave her an "epiphany" about where her allegiance lay, which helped prompt her decision to become a U.S. citizen.

8

Anthony Quinn

Image: Jorge Aguilar

Many people are surprised to learn that Anthony Quinn was not American-born. Originally named Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca, he was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, to a Mexican mother of Indigenous heritage and an Irish immigrant father. After a short stint as a boxer, he began a successful acting career and became the first Mexican-born actor to win an Academy Award, ultimately winning two Oscars. He became a U.S. citizen in 1947.

9

Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine

Image: Jeremy Yap

Famous actresses, rivals, and sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine were born in Tokyo, Japan, to British parents, making them British subjects from birth. Both were brought up in the United States after their mother moved the family to California. Their careers in Hollywood were marked by a well-publicized sibling rivalry: according to biographies, their mother favored Olivia and discouraged Joan from using the family name, prompting her to adopt the stage surname Fontaine .

Olivia de Havilland became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1941, just months before the U.S. entered World War II, and she actively contributed to the war effort, including touring to support troops. Her sister Joan gained citizenship a few years later, in 1943.

10

Greta Garbo

Image: Sofia Sforza

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, as Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, Greta Garbo became one of the defining stars of Hollywood’s early Golden Age. After appearing in a supporting role in the Swedish film The Saga of Gösta Berling (1924), she caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives, who brought her to Hollywood to begin what became a legendary silent-film career, one that only grew stronger with the transition to sound. After nearly two decades in film, Garbo famously retired from acting in 1941 and later became a U.S. citizen in 1951.

1

Point Roberts, WA: The 49th parallel accident

Imagine if you had to cross two borders just to get to the market for a gallon of milk. That’s actually a reality for residents of Point Roberts, Washington. That’s because, following the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, the 49th parallel divided Canada and the U.S. In 1846, the line was extended westward and then officially recognized by the International Boundary Commission in 1925.

However, a tiny tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula poked out just below that line. Since then, the locals have lived in a boundary quirk. To get to the rest of Washington State by land, they must drive through Canada, show their passports, and do it all over again on the way back.

2

Statue of Liberty: Common misconception

If you want to start a friendly argument at a dinner party, ask whether the Statue of Liberty lives in New York or New Jersey. The funny thing is, both answers are technically right . While the statue physically sits in the waters of the Garden State, Liberty Island is legally an exclave of New York. This dates back to a 1664 land grant by the Duke of York in a document so vague and confusing that it took a 1834 Compact between the two states to settle the deal. New Jersey gets the water and the submerged lands, but New York keeps the monument.

However, the Federal Government actually manages the site through the National Park Service (NPS), providing security and maintenance.

3

The State of Franklin: Failed 14th state

In 1784, three counties in North Carolina felt neglected by their government and decided to strike out on their own . They even elected a governor, John Sevier, and printed their own money. They came just two votes short of being recognized by Congress as a formal state.

Eventually, things got heated, and North Carolina sent troops, leading to a small civil war between the locals. By 1789, the dream of Franklin was buried, and the territory became part of Tennessee.

4

Kentucky Bend

If you look closely at a map, there’s a piece of Kentucky that looks like it doesn’t belong. That’s the Kentucky Bend, also called the New Madrid Bend, a tiny peninsula in Fulton County that is almost completely separated from the rest of the Bluegrass State . The strange situation was the consequence of the massive series of earthquakes that took place in that area between 1811 and 1812, which were so violent they famously caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards for several hours. When the dust settled, the river had carved a new path that looped around this small patch of land, surrounded by Missouri and Tennessee instead of Kentucky. The 9 residents living there today go through Tennessee just to get to their home state.

5

The State of Deseret: The empire that almost was

Imagine a state so big it makes Texas look tiny. That almost happened back in 1894, when Mormon pioneers proposed the State of Deseret. The territory comprised what we now know as Utah, most of Nevada, parts of Arizona and Colorado, and a massive chunk of the California coast, including San Diego.

Had it been formalized, it would have been a powerhouse with its own seaport and total control over the West. However, Washington, D.C. wasn’t so keen on one group having that much territory and power, so they whittled it down, and we ended up having the states we know today.

6

The lawless "No Man's Land"

Have you ever wondered what happens when two governments simply give up on a piece of land? Between 1806 and 1821, there was a strip of land in what is now western Louisiana that was, literally, No Man’s Land. Neither the U.S. nor Spain, which owned part of the territory, could agree on the border, so they declared it "Neutral Ground" to avoid armed conflicts . The plan backfired as, with no laws to contain it, it quickly became a favorite for the outlaws in the West —meaning deserters and bandits hiding there were legally untouchable. The conflict was resolved by the 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty, which officially set the Sabine River as the legal boundary.

7

The Republic of the Indian Stream

In the early 1830s, people living in a small area between New Hampshire and Quebec were fed up, and in this case, taxes were the problem. Both Canada and the US were trying to collect taxes, and nobody likes being double-billed . In 1832, the residents essentially said "neither of them can tax us" and formed their own country called the Republic of the Indian Stream. They had their own constitution and Capitol for four years, until 1836, when the militia marched on the disputed territory to reclaim the land. It wasn’t until 1842, when the land dispute and the double taxation were definitively resolved by the Webster–Ashburton Treaty, which assigned the land to New Hampshire.

8

The Northwest Angle: Mapping mistake of 1783

When the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783 to end the Revolutionary War, the mapmakers used a chart that was flat-out wrong. They thought the Mississippi River started much further north than it actually did. Because of that mistake, a piece of Minnesota got cut off from the rest of the country . To this day, the "Northwest Angle" is the only place in the lower 48 states north of the 49th parallel. Much like Point Roberts, you have to cross a massive lake or drive through Canada just to visit it.

9

The District of Columbia’s "lost" corner

If you look at a map of D.C., you’ll notice it’s missing a chunk; it’s not a perfect square as it was originally intended. Originally, the capital was a perfect ten-mile square diamond , taking land from both Maryland and Virginia. But by 1846, things got tense. Residents in the Virginia portion, which included Alexandria and Arlington, were worried the federal government would abolish slavery in the District, which was the backbone of their economy. They successfully petitioned to have Virginia "take back" that portion of the land and subsequently changed the shape of the national capital forever.

10

UN Headquarters: International territory

If you want to feel international, go to the United Nations Headquarters on the East River in midtown Manhattan, New York. Once you cross that gate onto the 18-acre site, you are technically leaving the United States. You don’t need to show your passport, but that’s international territory, which means it has its own laws , its own security force, and even its own postal service. It is a legal hole in the middle of New York City.

1

Measuring

This is a difference most Americans are aware of: most countries use the metric system rather than U.S. customary units, and most use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. Countries such as the UK and Canada still use some imperial units in everyday life, but they mainly use the metric system. Another measure that confuses foreigners is the particular way ingredients are measured in American recipes, which often use cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons rather than measurements by weight.

Fun fact: The only other countries that use the Imperial system officially are Liberia and Myanmar.

2

Sales tax

Do you find having to calculate sales taxes annoying? That’s a unique American experience. In the majority of the world, the price you see is the price you pay , because it has the sales tax already added.

Why is it different in America? Sales taxes vary across states , so retailers find it easier to showcase the base price and then calculate the total at checkout.

3

Cutlery use

Many Americans abroad are surprised by the realization that not everyone uses a knife and fork in the same way they do . In fact, no one else does. While most Americans have learned the American style —also called the zig-zag or fork switching method— that involves using the fork in the left hand for cutting and then changing it to the right to pick up the food, European and Latin American countries don’t do this . It might seem like a small difference, but it completely changes the way you eat.

4

Iced drinks

Do other countries not have ice? They do, but they don’t necessarily assume everyone will want it. While serving water and other beverages with ice is customary in America, in many other countries, you need to request it —even during the hottest of summers.

But even if you get ice, many times you will need to specify the amount : the same drink that would be filled with ice cubes in America might come to you with just two or three cubes elsewhere.

5

Date formatting

The U.S. is not completely alone on this one, but there’s a difference big enough to be worth mentioning. The standardized way of recording the date in America is month-day-year , a convention also followed by some Caribbean and Asian countries. But in the rest of the Western world, the conventional format is day-month-year , which can lead to confusion for Americans. In most Asian countries , the most commonly used format is year-month-day .

6

The word ‘American’

In the English language, ‘American’ is the only way to refer to people with U.S. citizenship . Other words, such as ‘Usian’ or ‘Unitedstatian’ have been proposed, but never stuck. This is why many Americans are surprised when other countries —Latin American countries in particular— use ‘American’ for anyone in the American continent , or continents, another big difference. In most European and Latin American countries, there is a different word for U.S. citizens, such as the Spanish ‘estadounidense’ or the Portuguese ‘estadunidense’ .

7

Moving out at 18 years old

This one is not so black and white, but more like a general tendency. Compared with most of Europe, Latin America, and Asia, Americans give serious consideration to the possibility of moving out after high school. Not everyone does, and not everyone can afford it, but it's fairly common.

In other countries, young adults generally move out if their job or education requires it , but they tend to stay at home a few more years if they can.

8

Driving a car as a teenager

America is quite car-centric , especially if you live outside of the big cities. While not everyone can afford to have a personal car —even a second-hand one—, it is common for 16 and 17-year-olds to legally drive their parents’ car, or save for their own.

In the rest of the world, the chances of high schoolers driving themselves to school are much lower, as most countries don’t allow underage kids to get a driving license .

9

Solo cups

Do plastic cups exist outside of the U.S.? They do, but they are not as iconic or as widely used as Solo cups, introduced in the 1970s as a disposable but sturdy cup for parties and events. Many foreigners visiting America are surprised when they realize that solo cups are a real thing , and not something that just happens in movies.

10

Filing taxes

Taxes in the U.S. are not that different from taxes in other countries, except for how they are filed . During tax filing season, thousands of Americans direct their efforts to ensure they have properly reported their income and that their return will match the IRS’s data.

In other parts of the world, however, the one responsible for calculating and filing taxes is the government , while citizens merely corroborate that everything is in order.