re:Tesla, Italian - really? Wiki says he was born in Austria and then came to the US. His parents were affiliated with Serbian Churches.

The answer to my question is Charles Proteus Steinmetz. You can read brief bios including the anecdote at these sites:
http://venus.ece.ndsu.nodak.edu/old_.../steinmetz.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/astart.../Steinmetz.htm

So how about I try again?
There's a well-known shipping company whose logo has an arrow in it. Which one, and where's the arrow? NB - semi-trick question...