A Brief History
On February 25, 1932, Adolf Hitler applied for German citizenship. Why? Because he was not German! And that is just the first of today’s fascinating facts about Adolf Hitler. To see our full list of the “Top Ten Bizarre Adolf Hitler Facts,” please click here. For more on this particular entry, please read on below…
Digging Deeper
Digging deeper, we find Hitler born in Austria, and thus had to apply for naturalization as a German citizen in order to hold political office.
So how many other famous people were not of the nationality or ethnicity you thought they were? A lot!
Canada, our neighbor to the north and a great place to visit, has produced about a bajillion famous “Americans.” They include: singer Shania Twain; game show host Alex Trebek; newscaster Peter Jennings; actor William Shatner; singer Justin Bieber; comedian John Candy; comedian Jim Carrey; model Pamela Anderson; actor Michael J. Fox; singer-songwriter Paul Anka; comedian Dan Aykroyd; the rock band The Guess Who; actor Rick Moranis; actor Eugene Levy; Mike Myers (the actor-comedian, not the mass murderer from Halloween!); country music artist Hank Snow; the rock band Barenaked Ladies; legendary basketball coach James Naismith; comedian Phil Hartman; actor Martin Short; comic book artist Joe Shuster (of Superman fame); singer Alanis Morisette; and Cubs pitcher Ferguson Jenkins who won 20 games 6 years in a row! In fact, there are so many Canadian-Americans that we can not list them all here.
Some other people who seem “All American” include: Charlize Theron (South Africa); golfing great Gary Player (South Africa); Bob Hope (England); Donald and Kieffer Sutherland (England). Even the principal actors on the HBO vampire show True Blood are not American, with Sookie and Bill both being born in England, Jason Stackhouse being born in Australia and Eric Northman being born in Sweden.
Some Americans were born outside of the country, casting their true nationality a little bit in doubt. Senator John McCain was born in Panama to American parents. Mitt Romney’s father George was born in Mexico. Gene Simmons of the rock band Kiss was born in Israel, and Elvis Presley’s manager “Col.” Tom Parker was born in the Netherlands, which he tried to hide.
The so-called British royal family is actually German, and had changed their name from Saxe-Coburg Gotha to the more familiar House of Windsor in 1917 due to awkward appearances during World War I! If that seems cracked, be rest assured that European monarchs have frequently been from places other than the one they reigned over. It was quite common actually.
On the other hand, there are some people whose names make it seem that they do/did not come from where they were born. Examples include Alberto Fujimori, the ex-president of Peru and of Japanese descent, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the ex-president of France and of Hungarian descent.
Cracked fact: Both of them were once prosecuted as criminals!
The moral of the story is never make any assumptions about where somebody was born. To finish on a cracked note, St. Patrick was born in England, not Ireland, and Madame Curie (Marie Sklodowska) was Polish and born in Warsaw. “Australian” Mel Gibson (a.k.a. Mad Max) was actually born in New York!
Question for students (and subscribers): Do you think we slighted someone by omission from this article? Please add them to it by including them in the comments section below this article.
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Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information on Hitler, please see first his writings…
Hitler, Adolf and Ralph Manheim. Mein Kampf. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.
And second, the historical interpretation of them…
Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: A Biography. W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="1274 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=1274">146 Comments
I never knew that so many well known people are not actually American even though they seem to be. I never would have guessed that Pamela Anderson is actually from Canada. I didn’t know Hitler was from Austria either.
Interesting article
I find it sad people don’t know hitler was Austrian.
Interesting. I didnt know alot of those people were originally Canadian.
That is a very large and surprising list of people that aren’t of actual birth citizens of the countries that they claim were born from. And Hitler not being actual German isn’t much of a surprise because it was a sort of “scandal” when he first wrote to “fame.”
It is interesting that we make assumptions about where people are from. I only knew of Justin Bieber’s and John McCain’s original nationality before reading this post.
I did not realize so many famous people from the United States aren’t actually from here. Really interesting!
I was not aware that there were so many people and or families that different heritages from that of where they are known, very interesting.
I had no idea Jim Carry was Canadian! It is amazing how many people are not American, and yet I have always thought they were. The only person I actually knew was Canadian is Justin Bieber and that’s mainly because people are trying to make him go back.
This is very interesting to hear of the amount of people that are famous and live in America, really weren’t from America. Some that I found were…. Martin Lawrence (Germany), Bruce Willis (Germany), twins Tia and Tamera Mowry (Germany)
Those were just some of the ones that I was surprised about and they were all from Germany.
I am surprised there are so many people that are from Canada and we did not know it. I guess it shows you can not assume a person’s nationality just by looking at their name or how they look.
That really depends on where you are in the world; I’m sure the Japanese have little problem in distinguishing between westerners, and in culturally and genetically homogeneous European countries it is probably less difficult to make a similar determination. Languages can also be informative.
We in North America don’t really have close borders where much changes; Canada and the US, culturally, are quite similar.
I said the same thing I couldn’t believe how many famous people came from Canada.
I was not expecting the Hitler thing but I am not surprised about how many people are from Canada.
This was a very interesting read and Canada is doing well for herself with all of these people named coming from there! haha!
There is a big difference between being mistaken for a different nationality ,like the Canadians, and claiming a different nationality to the extent that Hitler did.
It is quite unfortunate that because Adolf was the leader of Germany, Germans are blamed for what happened under his rule. The Germans had nothing to do with all of this only specifically the Nazis who tried to “perfect” the world to be dominated by Hitler.
I guess after fighting in WWI I think he wanted to change Germany as a whole because of all the things they have lost after the war.
Maria Sharapova in the tennis world sometimes is thought of as an American since she has lived here her whole life…but in fact she was born in Russia. She currently resides in Bradenton, FL at IMG Academy.
I think this just goes to show how little appearances actually show us about people. I know for me, my mom was born in Canada and my dad was born here. Most people assume my mom is American because she has lived here since she was sixteen, but she isn’t even an American citizen. In some situations, there is more to people than what we assume.
Hahaha wow thats actually pretty cool know where all of those famous people are actually from. I wouldn’t have been able to guess some of those
I had never really given much thought as to where people were born, interesting how many people I know as Americans were born in other countries though.
WOW… way to go Germany… NOT! — DAVID WARDLE
Dang, Canada really has a lot of talented people! I’m pretty sure most of Green Day (2/3) is from there and so is Celine Dion.
why hide where you were born?
That was interesting. I wonder why some people don’t want anyone to know where they were really born at? Maybe if I were a famous celebrity I would know the answer to that.
I don’t really care where people come from. I think that is honestly irrelevant, but I guess if i was in ww1 or ww2 maybe i would feel different about the subject according to where i was from.
Hitler sure had a whole lot of pride for Germany for not even being from there.
Wow I had no idea he wasn’t originally German
I feel like nationality is still very important in our culture, however I feel like it has become less important over the years.
Never knew that Hitler was not born in Germany. He sure had a ton of people rally behind him considering he was not a natural citizen.
I am sure this was something that Hilter tried to suppress, but I am surprised no other countries reported that he was not German
I was aware of some of the later examples given in this article; however, I never knew that Adolf Hitler was not originally German! That completely blew my mind and makes the rest of his decision making so much more interesting. It is incredible what “outsiders” can do within a country from Hitler’s time up until today.
I had no idea that the British Royal Family at the time of WWI was of German descent. It makes you wonder why Britain did not have better ties to Germany and some type of alliance or mutual agreement. I wonder how history could have been changed if Britain and Germany were on the same side as a result of this.
I had no idea that some of those famous people were from Canada. Probably because the US is intertwined with Canada in many ways.
Something I find amusing is that the popular country artist Keith Urban was born in New Zealand and originally comes from Australia, yet makes music popularized in America, and is one of the most famous musicians in this genre.
How did Britain not have a better relationship with Germany? Would history have been different if They were on the same side? He wanted to change Germany after the lost of ww1 that’s why i think he wanted to convert to Germany.
I always thought he was from Germany, very interesting.
It’s crazy that he was actually born in Austria but so many people think he is German.
I knew Hitler was born in Austria, and I think we all went through a time of wishing JB would go back to Canada. But I was surprised about Jim Carrey being from Canada. Who else could’ve played the Grinch, I mean, really?
I knew that Hitler was from Austria, however, I didn’t know about some of the famous people listed.
It is amazing how strongly Hitler fought for Germany and how so many Germans trusted him even though he was from Austria, a country he would invade.
Well I guess it kind of takes a new meaning to the old saying “you can be anything you want to be”!
I was completely unaware of how many popular artists and celebrities of today, and previous generations, were of Canadian descent!
I knew a lot of the “American” celebrities were not Americans. Most of them are from Canada, just like myself. Most people just assume they know where people are from.
Dang that’s a lot of people that are not born in there country that become part of the political office. That is pretty interesting that a lot of them come from Canada.
I did not know that many celebrities were from Canada.
I find it shocking that St. Patrick was born in England and not Ireland.
Canada is a great place. They might of sent some great actors but it makes you think what would happen if we returned the favor and send more Americans to them. I kinda hope not Americans already ruined this country and is ruining the world one meme at a time.
I knew that a lot of these people were Canadian. I think it’s much too cold up there so they come here ;). Maybe not but my husbands cousin is from Canada and she tells me all this stuff about these people. Interesting that Hitler wasn’t German though…. Can you imagine if he created the Nazi party in Austria?
I did not realize how many famous people are Canadian including Justin Bieber.
I never knew Hitler was Austrian.
I always thought that it was just a rumor that Hitler was not a German citizen
I find it pretty ironic that Hitler wasn’t even born in Germany.
Some of these are so surprising, such as the royal family not being from England, what?!
never knew that many of the people were Canadian. good to learn
How can be “the royal family” and not even be from Britain? That seems almost counterintuitive based off of previous history.
Crazy to think about one of the worst people of all time could be so close to home
These are very surprising. I wasn’t aware of some of the people being native to other places than we thought. How could the royal family be the royal family if they weren’t even from Britain?
Ironically, Hitler wasn’t even born in Germany. How lovely
Arnold Schwarzenegger really embodied the American tough guy and action hero role like very few if anyone else had. He even became involved in American politics and was the Governor of California which is pretty interesting since he was born in Austria. His accent made it obvious where he was from but he still acted pretty American.
Hitler dominated a country he was not even born in. wow
Good ol’ hitler history’s biggest douchebag
Very terrible man Hitler is. He is very well known.
I am not sure why he hid where he was from.
It’s amazing that our neighboring country has lead so many into political power. Not to mention, I was shocked to hear that Hitler was not German since he was so obsessed with the idea of the perfect German.
I would argue one of the worst citizens Germany ever granted citizenship to with him to go on and kill millions of German people.
It is interesting that Hitler was actually not born in Germany.
To be honest I’m surprised that the Germans backed him even though he wasn’t initially.
*initially German
Thats suprising how canada give birth to most or some of our famous entertainers. HIP HIP HOORAY! But for some reason Hitler came to take life of the innocent but want citizenship where he will destroy.
Wow I had no idea about some of these people, especially Hitler. I just assumed he was from Germany.
I am shocked to learn Hitler was not German.
It is hard to believe that so many people who are popular in America are not even from here. I was especially surprised about Hitler. I can not believe that someone who was so for German supremacy was not even German.
I am so surprised to see so many famous people from Canada! I feel like the only one that talks about it a lot is Justin Bieber. I also did not that Hitler was born in Austria and gained German Citizenship.
I was never aware that so many famous and highly recognized people in our country are actually not even from the US at all. The fact that Hitler was not actually German raises a lot of questions in my opinion. I guess your values and personality really do depend on how you’re raised and what type of environment you grow up in.
I was shocked by the amount of celebrities from other countries. I also did not realize that Hitler was not German.
From an American viewpoint it is hard to believe that a country would allow its leader to be from a different country, since it is required that you be born an American citizen in order to be President. I did not know that Hitler was actually from Austria and had to apply for German citizenship.
I am really surprised that Hitler was not German. I also cannot believe how many actors and actresses are from Canada. The British Royal family are German??? That’s something I would never have guessed.
I literally had no idea that Hitler was not German. I have heard before though that Hitler was part Jewish, which is quite ironic.
I knew there were some famous people that were from Canada but I never knew that there were so many. I also did not know that Hitler was not German!
One famous Canadian-American that was left off the lengthy list in the article was the singer Drake.
I found it silly that St. Patrick isn’t from Ireland. It’s surprising to me that all of these famous people that I grew up knowing of are not even from this country. I guess you never really know!
This article reminded me that Justin Beiber and Jim Carrey are from Canada. One ironic thing about Justin Beiber being from Canada is the amount of Americans that adore his tone of voice, singing ability, and appearance. I guess we learn something new every day!
I always find it interesting to know where people were born and what their nationality/heritage is.
I don’t believe that I even knew that Hitler was Austrian. I also never knew how many famous people were born or came from other countries. I just never looked into it before reading this article.
I was unaware that Hitler was not born a German citizen. It makes me curious about more of his childhood, and what brought his family to Germany.
The great thing about america is the fact that we have so many great people come to this country for the opportunities that we present. It shows the opportunities that we have always offered those who are new to our country
It is so surprised that Hitler was not a German. Before I read this article, I believed that he was a German and he was proud of his nationality and race.
I heard about the Hitler had Jewish origins, but I never heard about he was not from Germany, and he applied for German citizenship.
I never knew that Hitler was not born in Germany and it just shows what a fake he was and how much was wrong with him.
America came to exist from immigrants. It is of no surprise that we have a lot of different famous people we consider American that weren’t born in the U.S.A.
America is a huge melting pot, and was made on the backs of immigrants. Many people who are famous were not born in this country, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Hitler was not even born in Germany, which can prove that he was very fake and had ideals that were not normal
It’s crazy that Hitler became the leader of a country he was not even originally from/
Adolf Hitler may have been the most hypocritical people in history.
I didn’t know Hitler was born in Australia.
Hitler wasn’t even German, but wanted to create a German world?
I don’t understand this at all. Hitler wasn’t even German but wanted to create a German world??????
I wonder why he would make the decisions he made for Germany when he wasn’t German.
I didn’t know so many people that I have heard of over my life time are from all over the world, I always assumed they were from America. Shania Twain was always playing in my house whie my mom cleaned.
I wonder how different the world would be today if Hitler stayed in Austria instead of going to Germany.
I did not know that Hitler was not German. There are so many people that I did not realize were not American as well.
That is interesting to learn Hitler really was not German. There is so much I didn’t know.
You do not have to be born in a country to be considered part of the country. As long as you embrace the culture, support the country, and gain citizenship.
I never knew that Hitler was not born German. It does not surprise me that America has so many famous people from other places outside of America
It is amazing how many people are not of the nationality you think they are. I find it interesting that Germany would allow a leader who was not a native born citizen.
It is intriguing to read about a leader who was not from the land in which he led…considering the uproar that people caused when they thought Barrack Obama was Muslim. Also, the number of celebrities that come from Canada was surprising, as I learned a few new ones from this article.
It is very interesting to read about Hitler not being a German after he became the ruthless leader of the Nazi party. It is also interesting to read about the numerous “American” entertainers who are not actually from America
I didn’t know that Hitler wasn’t german prior to reading this article. It was very informing and interesting.
Always fun to challenge common perception! It is funny hoe most Americans just assume that famous people are from America..
There were a lot of great people that came out of Canada. I was surprised by that list where these people came from here I thought a lot of them were American.
I am surprised by the amount of people that were from Canada
It’s always interesting to find out where people are originally from.
I am shocked to see so.many famous people are not actually American. John Candy surprised me!
I was aware of so many famous Canadians, even some didn’t make the list. I guess we don’t put an emphasis on where someone is from.
I never knew Hitler was from Austria. I always thought he was a a German born citizen. I also read that he was part Jewish as well.
It just shows you that you cannot make assumptions about someone based on what they look like or their attitude. I think that everyone just assumes that Hitler is German, but I find it highly interesting that this fact isn’t well known.
I completely agree with you that you can’t just assume someone is a certain race based off of their attitude and the way they act. I was shocked to find out he was from Australia.
Even though I thought that this article was informational, I was actually hoping for more information based about Hitler and where he actually came from and his story about how he got to Germany. It is still interesting to see the people from America that actually aren’t from here.
I am not surprised about people from other countries becoming famous in U.S. and claiming citizenship in both countries. The fact that Hitler was not German totally shock me, because he was so passionate about Germany been great again after WW I and how he showed that he cared for the country to millions of people that followed him, but yet he was not even German.
Interesting to see how many stars came from Canada.
The list goes on and on. Definitely makes the USA the melting pot of the world. Why wouldn’t people from all over the world want to come here? The land of opportunity still till this day.
I must say that I am truly surprised that Hitler was not a true native German. I cannot believe that I have gone through my entire life not knowing the Hitler was from Austria.
Its amazing how so many people became famous or reigned in countries that they were never born in such as one of Frances former presidents Nicolas Sarkoz who was actually of Hungarian decent. What I wonder is why did Hitler leave Austria.
I knew Hitler was originally from Austria, but I did not know about the others. Obviously America is the place to go to seek fame. The potentials in America are far greater than any where else in the world.
It is strange to believe that Hitler was not born in Germany and persecuted so many Jews in Austria.
I feel like everyone’s from Canada. haha the list just keeps going on and on
I never knew Hilter wasn’t German, found this article very interesting
I knew Hitler was born in Austria. I’ve always wondered why he focused on making Germany a world power.
I love to hear the stories behind why people leave where they are from to live somewhere new.
Some of the names listed and where they were from really surprised me. I never knew that singer Shania Twain; game show host Alex Trebek; newscaster Peter Jennings; actor William Shatner; singer Justin Bieber; comedian John Candy; comedian Jim Carrey; model Pamela Anderson; actor Michael J. Fox; singer-songwriter Paul Anka; comedian Dan Aykroyd; the rock band The Guess Who; actor Rick Moranis; actor Eugene Levy; Mike Myers were from Canada. What really Myself, I would judge a person on how they treat the al public.
This article was fascinating. I never really thought about where singers, actors, or any person in the public was born. Most I would have just assumed they were born in the US.
It is really neat seeing where people originated from, there are a lot of famous Canadians.
I knew that some of those people were from Canada but never knew that Adolf Hitler was born in Austria, I thought he was born in Germany.
Wow! I cannot believe how many people I thought were from the U.S. but actually from Canada. Though, Canada is in North American, making them “American’s”. Technically, since we reside in the United Sates we should be called United State-ians?
I was aware of Hitler being born in Austria. And because I have always been one to know random facts about people, I actually knew that most of the people on that list are Canadian.
I didn’t know Jim Carrey was Canadian! Or, that Gary Player is from North African.
I did not know the British Royal Family is actually from Germany, or the fact that so many famous people are from Canada.
Don’t forget Celine Dion! Canadian!
This article really just blew my mind as I did not know so many people were from Canada. I never knew Hitler was not from Germany very interesting to find out he was from Austria.
Wow, I did not know that Hitler was not from Germany. It was also interesting to read about how many famous people are from Canada that I wasn’t aware of.
Wow, I had no idea the British royal family was German!
I never realized how many famous people are from Canada! Also, I was surprised to read that Hitler wasn’t from Germany.. Hitler was just a weird man altogether.
Interesting, I did not knowing that Hitler was from Germany, but he was born in Austria. It is also interesting by knowing British royal family is actually German.
There are times when we can’t judge a person by his or her culture, and now the immigration policy is becoming more and more strict
What was Hitler’s obsession with being a German? I did not know about most of these people not being from the US but Bob Hope stands out the most for me.