As Europe is thinking of ways to deal with thousands of migrants, Alexander C. Kaufman of the reminds that “one of the men who most dramatically impacted human civilization in the last decade was the son of a Syrian who migrated to the U.S. in 1954.”

“Perhaps you’ve heard of him. His name was Steve Jobs,” the author writes.

Steven Paul Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in San Francisco, California, to Joanne Schieble (later Joanne Simpson) and Abdulfattah “John” Jandali, two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave their unnamed son up for adoption.

His father, Abdulfattah Jandali, was a Syrian political science professor, and his mother, Joanne Schieble, worked as a speech therapist.

As an infant, Steven was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs and named Steven Paul Jobs. Clara was the daughter of Armenian immigrants.