Good evening, everyone. There are so many of you! And after listening all night to these people's speeches who have done really important things, I'm a bit embarrassed to introduce you to a simple tour guide. My job is to accompany and bring visitors, and even Bolognese, around Bologna to discover its history and uniqueness. Because Bologna is truly unique. I try to do it with simple, clear words and I try to do it in a way that those who are with me can memorize what I tell them. When I speak, I obviously use my words, but I mostly use my parents' words and even more that of my grandparents, because I had very old grandparents and when I was little they told me about a city that no longer exists today: they told me about Bologna before the Second World War. So I try to enrich my guided tours with their own voice, because unfortunately, from the rather aseptic guides that we can now easily find on the web, that Bologna is no longer described. And when I don't work, when I don't accompany groups around, when I'm not out with tourists or Bolognese people, I spend my time studying: I always study, during the day but much more often during the night and the more I study the past, but also the present, of Bologna, the more my mind continues, always, to fill with wonder. My job is the best in the world. I get up in the morning and I never know, at the end of the day, how many new things I've learned. Even to prepare this short speech, I learned new things, so I think I'm really lucky. When Andrea called me to ask me if I wanted to attend this event, and when he told me that the title of this event was "It's a miracle," well, I had no doubt about it. What you'll see in this video for me is a real miracle. (Applause) [BOLOGNA CAPITAL OF ETRURIA PADANA:] ["FELSINA PRINCEPS ETRURIAE" (Pliny the Elder)] [20 BC - RARE EXAMPLE OF ROMAN ACQUEDUCT STILL IN USE] [10TH C. - THE OLDEST MODERN UNIVERSITY IN THE WORLD,] [ACCESSIBLE TO ALL GENDERS AND RELIGIONS] [11th-12th C. - THE WORLD'S OLDEST TORAH WAS WRITTEN IN BOLOGNA] [12th C. - THE CANALE DI RENO:] [THE OLDEST HYDRAULIC CHANNEL IN THE WORLD STILL IN PLACE] [13TH C. - CASALECCHIO'S SLUICE: THE OLDEST DAM STILL IN PLACE] [1109 ASINELLI TOWER - THE HIGHEST MEDIEVAL TOWER IN THE WORLD] [13TH C. - THE MOST TOWERED CITY IN THE WORLD] [13TH C. - THE MOST PORTICOED CITY IN THE WORLD] [THE ONLY ONE WHO HAD A PERMIT, AND A TAX, NOT TO BUILD A PORTICO.] [THE WORLD'S LONGEST ONE.] [12th-13th C. - MONDINO DEI LIUZZI] [HE DID THE WORLD'S FIRST DOCUMENTED PUBLIC AUTOPSY,] [AND HE WROTE THE FIRST TEXT OF HUMAN ANATOMY] [13th C. - ROLANDINO DE PASAJEROS] [WROTE THE WORLD'S FIRST TREATY ON CRIMINOLOGY] [13th C. - THE BOLOGNESE G. GUINIZELLI INVENTED THE "DOLCE STIL NOVO"] [AND MODERN ITALIAN POETRY, BEFORE THE DIVINE COMEDY] [1256 - THE FIRST CITY TO FREE THE SERFDOM ] [1296 - BETTINA GOZZADINI IS THE WORLD'S FIRST WOMAN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR] [13th -14th C. -THE WORLD'S FIRST HYDRAULIC-POWERED INDUSTRIAL CITY] [1303 - ITALIAN LANGUAGE:] ["They aren't probably wrong, those who think ] [that the Bolognese speak the most beautiful language" (Dante)] [1306 - PIER CRESCENZI PUBLISHED THE FIRST AGRICULTURAL CODE OF THE MIDDLE AGES] [1341 - THE WORLD'S FIRST MODERN HYDRAULIC SILK TWISTING MACHINE] [1390 - BASILICA OF SAN PETRONIO:] [THE WORLD'S LARGEST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BRICK, NOT CUTTING STONE] [15th C. - SCIPIONE DAL FERRO WAS THE FIRST MATHEMATICIAN] [SOLVING THE CUBIC EQUATION.] [15th C. - FRANCESCO GRIFFO INVENTED THE ITALIC FONT] [1455 - ARISTOTILE FIORANTE INVENTED THE TECHNIQUE TO MOVE THE TOWERS] [1474 - THE OLDEST ORGAN IN THE WORLD STILL IN USE] [1499- BOLOGNA PRESERVES THE WORLD'S OLDEST TEXT OF POLYPHONIC MUSIC] [15th C. - THE WORLD'S HIGHEST NUMBER OF MILLS IN THE MODERN AGE: 330] [15th C. - ULISSE ALDROVANDI FOUNDED THE STUDY OF NATURAL SCIENCES,] [FOUNDING THE FIRST UNIVERSITY CHAIR IN BOLOGNA] [15th C. - ULISSE ALDROVANDI FOUNDED THE STUDY OF GEOLOGY,] [TERM COINED BY HIMSELF] [1503 - LUDOVICO DE VARTHEMA IS THE FIRST WESTERN AT THE MECCA,] [AND THE ONLY ONE FOR CENTURIES] [1582 - THE BOLOGNESE POPE GREGORY XIII] [INTRODUCED THE NEW CALENDAR, WHICH WE STILL USE] [1584 - THE "BAROQUE" WAS BORN IN BOLOGNA WITH CARRACCI BROTHERS' NATURALISM,] [INTENDED TO BECOME A EUROPEAN TREND] [1585 - GASPARE TAGLIACOZZI INVENTED RHINOPLASTY] [AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY,] [FATHER OF COSMETIC SURGERY] [13th C. - THE MONTAGNOLA PARK] [IT'S ONE OF THE VERY FIRST PUBLIC PARKS IN EUROPE FOR THE POPULATION,] [17th C. - M. MALPIGHI FOUNDED EMBRYOLOGY,] [AND DISCOVERED BLOOD CIRCULATION,] [RED, WHITE BLOOD CELLS, PLATELETS AND LUNG ALVEOLI] [1630 - CAMILLO BALDI STUDIED HUMAN WRITING,] [AND FOUNDED GRAPHOLOGY] [1640 BONAVENTURA CAVALIERI, NOT LEIBNITZ] [DISCOVERED INFINITESIMAL CALCULUS WITH THE METHOD OF INDIVISIBLES] [1655 - THE WORLD'S LONGEST AND PRICEST SUNDIAL] [1661 - THE BOLOGNESE MORTADELLA IS THE FIRST REGULATED FOOD PRODUCT] [A D.O.P. ANTE LITTERAM] [18th C. - THE WORLD'S FIRST CHAIR OF OBSTETRICS] [18th C. - FERDINANDO MARSILI FOUNDED THE STUDY OF OCEANOGRAPHY] [1763 - BOLOGNA’S THEATRE IS ITALY’S OLDEST OPERA HOUSE STILL IN USE] [THE FIRST TO EXPERIMENT A WAGNERIAN INVENTION:] [THE ORCHESTRA PIT.] [1791 - LUIGI GALVANI DISCOVERED BIOLOGIC ELECTRICITY] [HIS STUDIES WILL INSPIRE THE NOVEL "FRANKENSTEIN"] [1792 ca - L. ZAMBONI AND G.B. DE ROLANDI INVENTED THE ITALIAN FLAG] [1796 - BOLOGNA HAS THE FIRST ITALIAN CHOCOLATE COMPANY,] [WHICH IN THE 19th CENTURY BROUGHT TO MARKET] [THE FIRST SOLID CHOCOLATE] [1801 - LA CERTOSA IS THE FIRST MODERN PUBLIC CEMETERY IN THE WORLD] [1820 - THE "COGNAC BOUTON" IS THE FIRST ITALIAN COGNAC] [1858 - CHIRICO FILOPANTI, NOT FLEMING, INVENTED TIME ZONES] [1895 - MARCONI DISCOVERED WIRELESS TRANSMISSION] [ISTITUTO RIZZOLI - 21st C.: THE WORLD'S FIRST EAR TRANSPLANTS] [2019: FIRST TRANSPLANT OF HUMAN VERTEBRAE] [1925 - THE "LITTORIALE" STADIUM IS THE FIRST MODERN ITALIAN STADIUM,] [AND ITS ARCHITECTURE IS INSPIRED BY THE GREAT ROMAN ARENAS] [1927 - OTELLO CATTABRIGA DESIGNED, PRODUCED AND COMMERCIALIZED] [THE WORLD'S FIRST AUTOMATIC ICE CREAM MAKER] [1929 - BRUTO CARPIGIANI INVENTED THE "ZETA WHEEL"] [1930 - SECONDO CAMPINI DESIGNED THE FIRST ITALIAN JET PLANE] [FOR CAPRONI'S FACTORIES] [1932 - FC BOLOGNA IS THE FIRST ITALIAN FOOTBALL TEAM] [TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS CUP, AT THE TIME CALLED "MITROPA CUP"] [1936 - ONDINA VALLA IS THE FIRST ITALIAN WOMAN] [CLIMBING THE OLYMPIC PODIUM] [1952 - COF (CAVAZZONI ORLANDO E FRATELLI) THE FIRST ITALIAN ICE LOLLY] [1952 - ONGOING - DR. DIXIE JAZZ BAND THE LONGEST RUNNING BAND IN THE WORLD] [1960 - THE FIRST ITALIAN SELF-SERVICE OPENED IN BOLOGNA] [1973 - "RADIO BOLOGNA" IS THE FIRST FREE ITALIAN RADIO IN FM] [2000 - BOLOGNA THE FIRST ITALIAN CITY] [TO BE AWARDED THE STATUS OF EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE] [2008 - "LO ZECCHINO D'ORO" IS THE ONLY TELEVISION BROADCAST] [TO GET AN UNESCO RECOGNITION] [EMILIA ROMAGNA HAS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF D.O.P. AND I.G.P. PRODUCTS IN EUROPE] [LIVING IN BOLOGNA IS A MIRACLE] (Applause) If we have a cell phone in our pocket, not sure if it's good or not, but we must thank a Bolognese, Guglielmo Marconi. Have you ever thought about what the world might be like without this city? There would actually be a lot less. I mean, what are we talking about? Bologna has given the world an ice cream maker to make ice cream, and gave you the chance to eat chocolate instead of drinking it. There's no quantum physics for me to compare. We'll always be on credit, always, always on credit. (Applause) And if Luigi Galvani had not been there, there would have been no Frankenstein novel. And if the novel Frankenstein hadn't been there, there wouldn't have been a movie called Frankenstein Junior, and no one would ever say "There, wolf. There, castle." And so, a part of our life would no longer make sense. So, I think it would be really important that all Bolognese knew the history of this city. There are a lot of young people who do not know the history of Bologna; and who are not conscious of the incredible contribution Bologna has given To Italy and the world, in so many different fields. I mean, how can we build a winning, better future if we don't know our past? Maybe it's a cliché, maybe a trivial phrase, but it's something I really believe in. Before we think of the future, we need to understand our past. And since TED is a place where you have to tell valuable ideas, well, this is my idea of value: I'd like that in our territory's schools we can teach the history of Bologna and its surroundings. I would like it to become a compulsory subject. I would like that school trips aren't organized to - and I quote my own: Volterra, San Gimignano, Frasassi Caves, Milan, Florence. Instead, I would like that schools organize trips in Bologna. I would like that, once a week, the students get out of their classes and invaded our city to go live and discover it; not just read it in books, but discover our city. Because the history of Bologna is written in its bricks, in its buildings, in its museums; and also in its suburbs, and therefore in its contradictions. Kids shouldn't just go in the town centre. They should also discover the city's outskirts. Because Bologna is a city that has always been full of contradictions. And just by discovering the contradictions of Bologna we can improve our knowledge of this city. In the past, Bologna has always been a very anticlerical city; but it was also the most important papal city, after Rome, in history. Bologna, between the 1920s and 1940s, was the rightmost city and at the same time the leftmost. Bologna is the city where, over 1000 years ago, the oldest university in the world was founded; and it was a law school. And today I'm told that we probably have the European record for graffiti devastation. I'm not talking about my beloved Street Art, but I'm talking about graffiti as vandalism on historical and artistic monuments. Bologna is the city of light of science I mentioned Luigi Galvani, Tagliacozzi, Malpighi and Marconi but it is also the city of darkness, and of the ravines of the porches. Contradictions that Giacomo Leopardi summarized in a few words. Giacomo Leopardi has lived for a longtime in our city; and during his stays in Bologna, even very long periods, he has written to his family so many letters; and in some letters he wrote how much he loved Bologna, how great it was to live in this city - had never lived in a city as beautiful as this one, where the atmosphere was joyful and happy, where the women were beautiful. They're still beautiful. In the same letters Leopardi also says that when you go for a walk under Bologna's arcades you must always have money in your pocket. Because if they try to rob you, and your pockets are empty, the custom in Bologna is to kill you. So, as you can see, there are so many contradictions; and we must also be aware of these traditions. In a globalized world, like the one we live in it would be important that children living in Bologna, whatever their origin - because they always Bolognese are - learn about the history of this city, because that's how they learn to love it. And when you learn to love something, you automatically respect that thing. And growing up, as adults, I'm sure they're going to be very involved, because they love Bologna, to improve it and, above all, to ensure that it continues to be a great city. And I conclude by saying that I would also like that politics somehow went back to school and study the history of Bologna, because it would surely become a better, fairer politics For those who live in this territory. And this speech I made as a proud Bolognese applies to any Italian city. If everyone loves their own city and territory, because they know it, well, the future of our country could only benefit from it. Thank you. (Applause)
