Author: Amanda

On this day in 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail gave the first successful public demonstration of their telegraph in front a small group of onlookers at the Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey. Image: Samuel Morse / Library of Congress The telegraph transmitted electric pulses over wires, enabling people to send messages over vast distances. Morse and Vail also developed a code using pulses and pauses, which we now know as Morse code. After struggling… Read the full story

Image: Lucretia Mott / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, CC0 On January 3, 1793, Lucretia Mott, an early proponent of the women’s rights movement, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Mott was an ardent anti-slavery activist and participated in several public lectures in support of the anti-slavery movement. She helped found the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. In 1848, Mott and fellow abolitionist Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights… Read the full story

Today is National Science Fiction Day! The day is celebrated annually on the birthday of renowned science fiction author Isaac Asimov, who was born in Petrovichi, Russia. Image: Isaac Asimov / Wikimedia Commons Although the exact date of his birth is unknown, Asimov celebrated his birthday on January 2. The son of Anna Berman and Judah Asimov, Asimov came to the U.S. as a toddler. A bright child, Asimov taught himself how to read at the age of 5… Read the full story

Before the new year begins, we are taking a look back at 2024 on Geni and reflecting on what a great year we had. From reaching 190 million profiles in the World Family Tree to connecting and meeting new and old genealogy friends, it was a fun and exciting year indeed! We did a lot of work behind the scenes to make Geni run even better. Early in the year we began sending new Source… Read the full story

Today marks the 159th birthday of acclaimed author Rudyard Kipling! Image: Rudyard Kipling / Library of Congress He was born Joseph Rudyard Kipling in Bombay, British India on December 30, 1865 to Alice MacDonald and John Lockwood Kipling. His mother was one of four notable sisters who had married well known men of the Victorian Era. His father, a sculptor and pottery designer, was the principal and professor of Architectural Sculpture at the Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of… Read the full story

Today we remember French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur, who was born on this day in 1822. Image: Louis Pasteur / Smithsonian Institution, Flickr Pasteur was born in Dole, France on December 27, 1822 to Jean Joseph Pasteur and Jeanne Etiennette Roqui. His father was a tanner and was awarded the Legion of Honor during the Napoleonic Wars. As a child, Pasteur had a strong interest in drawing and painting. However, he was encouraged to… Read the full story

On this day in 1867, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist Madam C.J. Walker was born. Walker was one of the first African American female self-made millionaires in the United States. Image: Madam C.J. Walker/ Wikimedia Commons Walker was born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 near Delta, Louisiana to Owen Breedlove and Minerva Anderson. The fifth of six children, Walker was the first child in her family to be born into freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation…. Read the full story

Do you remember reading The Grapes of Wrath? On this day in 1968, author John Steinbeck died at the age of 66. Image: John Steinbeck / Wikimedia Commons The acclaimed American novelist was born John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. His paternal grandfather, Johann Adolf Großsteinbeck, had shortened the family name to Steinbeck after immigrating to the United States. After leaving his studies at Stanford, Steinbeck found work as a freelance writer and… Read the full story

Image: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens / Wikimedia Commons On December 19, 1843, Charles Dickens’s Christmas classic A Christmas Carol was first published in London. An instant success, Dickens’s novella significantly influenced the rejuvenation of the old Christmas traditions of England. Since it’s publication, the story has never been out of print. Children all around the world grow up hearing the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his spiritual visitors, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present,… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Steven Spielberg! Today the legendary director turns 78. Known for his blockbuster and award-winning films, Spielberg has directed and produced many of the most popular movies in history. Image: Steven Spielberg / Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 Spielberg was born on December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio to an Orthodox Jewish family. His mother, Leah Posner, was a concert pianist and restauranteur, and his father, Arnold Spielberg, worked as an electrical engineer…. Read the full story

Happy Wright Brothers’ Day! On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, made history by making the world’s first sustained, man-powered, heavier-than-air flight. Image: The Wright Brothers / San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive, Flickr The brothers were two of seven children born to Milton Wright, a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and Susan Catherine Koerner. From a young age, they were encouraged to pursue their intellectual… Read the full story

On this day in 1775, English novelist Jane Austen was born. Image: Jane Austen / Library of Congress Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in Stevenson, Hampshire, England to Reverend George Austen and Cassandra Leigh. One of eight children, Austen had a close relationship with her sister, Cassandra. Growing up, the sisters were encouraged to read from their father’s extensive library. Austen would often write poems, stories, and plays to amuse her family. Although she began writing as a teen,… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Dick Van Dyke! Today the actor turns 99. Image: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) He was born on December 13, 1925 in West Plains, Missouri to Hazel McCord, a stenographer, and Loren Wayne Van Dyke, a salesman. Van Dyke can trace a branch of his family back to Mayflower passenger John Alden, who is his 9th great grandfather. After leaving high school in his senior year, Van Dyke tried to join the United States… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Ol’ Blue Eyes! Today we remember iconic singer Frank Sinatra who was born on this day in 1915. Image: Frank Sinatra / Library of Congress Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. A big baby at 13.5 pounds, Sinatra had to be delivered with the aid of forceps. As a result, he was left with severe scars on his left cheek, neck, and ear and lasting damage to… Read the full story

Is the song “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” on your holiday playlist? Today, the voice behind the popular Christmas song, Brenda Lee, celebrates her 80th birthday! Image: Brenda Lee / Wikimedia Commons Lee was born Brenda Mae Tarpley on December 11, 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia. She began singing at the age of two, earning candy and coins for singing at the local candy store, and won a singing contest at the age of 6. Her family was… Read the full story

On December 10, 1815, English mathematician Ada Lovelace was born in London, England. Image: Ada Lovelace / Wikimedia Commons Lovelace was the only legitimate child of famed poet Lord Byron and educational reformer Anna Isabella Milbanke. The couple separated shortly after Lovelace was born and she was raised by her mother. Her father left England, never to return, and died in Greece when Lovelace was eight. Dubbed the “World’s First Computer Programmer,” Lovelace is best… Read the full story

On this day in 1916, actor Kirk Douglas was born. Image: Kirk Douglas / Wikimedia Commons, Nationaal Archief, CC0 The legendary actor was born Issur Danielovitch on December 9, 1916 in Amsterdam, New York to Bryna “Bertha” Sanglel and Herschel “Harry” Danielovitch. His parents were poor, Jewish immigrants from Russia and the family spoke Yiddish at home. His family adopted the last name “Demsky” when they arrived in the United States, and he grew up… Read the full story

Today we remember Roy Orbison, who died on this day in 1988. Image: Roy Orbison / Nationaal Archief, CC0 Orbison was born on April 23, 1936 in Vernon, Texas to a working class family. He showed an interest in music at an early age when his father gave him a guitar for his 6th birthday. By the age of 8, Orbison began singing on a local radio show. Known for his trademark glasses and distinctive voice,… Read the full story

On this day in 1782, Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States, was born in Kinderhook, New York. Did you know that he was the first President to be born a U.S. citizen? All previous presidents were born in the British colonies before the American Revolution and were therefore British subjects. Image: Martin Van Buren / Library of Congress Van Buren was the son of Dutch parents, and although the Van Buren family had been in America… Read the full story

Happy birthday to The Dude! Today actor Jeff Bridges celebrates his 75th birthday. Image: Jeff Bridges / Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0) Bridges was born on December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles, California to actors Lloyd and Dorothy Bridges. Born into a Hollywood family, the Academy Award winning actor made his big screen debut as a baby in the 1951 film, The Company She Keeps. Growing up, he and his older brother, Beau, made occasional appearances on their… Read the full story

On this day in 1857, author Joseph Conrad was born in Berdychiv, in what is now Ukraine. Conrad is often regarded as one of the greatest novelists in the English language, but did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties. Image: Joseph Conrad / New York Public Library Born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, Conrad was the only child of Apollo Korzeniowski and Ewelina Bobrawska. His father was a poet, playwright, and clandestine political activist. At the… Read the full story

On this day in 1859, French Neo-Impressionist artist Georges Seurat was born. Known for devising his own painting technique called pointillism, Seurat is remembered as one of the most iconic artists of the late 19th-century. Image: Georges Seurat / Wikimedia Commons Seurat was born on December 2, 1859 in Paris, France to Antoine Chrysostome Seurat and Ernstine Faivre. His father was a former legal official who had become wealthy from speculating property. He received his… Read the full story

On November 29, 1832, American author Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Image: Louisa May Alcott / Library of Congress Raised by transcendentalist parents, the Little Women author grew up among many of the well-known intellectuals of the day such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. When the family fell on hard times, Alcott was forced to work various jobs at an early age, such as a teacher, domestic servant, and writer, to help support… Read the full story

Today we remember Bruce Lee, who was born on this day in 1940. Image: Bruce Lee / Wikimedia Commons Born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, California, Lee grew up in Hong Kong before moving back to the United Staes at the age of 18. His father was one of the leading Cantonese opera and film actors of the time. Like his father, Lee had a knack for performing and appeared in several films… Read the full story

Do you remember the Peanuts gang? On this day in 1922, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was born. Considered one of the most influential cartoonists in history, Schulz’s beloved comic ran from 1950-2000 with nearly 18,000 strips published. Image: Charles Schulz / Library of Congress Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Carl Schulz, a barber, and Dena Halverson. His father had German heritage, while his mother was from a large Norwegian family. As a child, he was nicknamed… Read the full story

Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio was born on this day 110 years ago. Image: Joe DiMaggio / Library of Congress Joseph Paul DiMaggio was born on November 25, 1914 in Martinez, California. He was the eighth of nine children born to Sicilian immigrants Giuseppe DiMaggio and Rosalia Mercurio. His father had come from a long line of fisherman and had hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps. However, Joe’s talent in baseball set his path… Read the full story

On this day in 1898, aviator Wiley Post was born. Image: Wiley Post / San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive, Flickr Post was born on a farm near Grand Saline, Texas to William Francis Post and Mae Laine Quinlan. At the age of five, Post’s family moved to Oklahoma. From young age, Post was enamored with aviation. In 1913, Post saw a Curtis-Wright “pusher” plane take flight for the first time and immediately enrolled… Read the full story

What’s your favorite Goldie Hawn movie? Today the actress celebrates her 79th birthday. Image: Goldie Hawn / photo by Alan Light, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Goldie Jeanne Hawn was born on November 21, 1945 in Washington, D.C. She was named after her maternal great aunt, Goldie Hochhauser. Starting at the age of three, Hawn took ballet and tap dance lessons. She began her career as a professional dancer before getting her big break on the popular variety show, Laugh-In…. Read the full story

On this day in 1889, astronomer Edwin Hubble was born in Marshfield, Missouri. Regarded as one of the most important astronomers in history, Hubble was the first to discover the existence of other galaxies in the universe beyond the Milky Way. Image: Edwin Hubble / The Huntington Library, Wikimedia Commons Hubble was born to Virginia Lee James and John Powell Hubble on November 20, 1889. Growing up, he was known for his athletic abilities and participated… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Jodie Foster! Today the actress turns 62. Image: Jodie Foster / Franz Richter, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 1.0) Foster was born Alicia Christian Foster on November 19, 1962 in Los Angeles, California. She was the youngest child born to Lucius Fisher Foster III and Evelyn Almond. Through her father’s branch of the family, Foster is a direct descendant of Mayflower passenger John Alden, who is her 9th great grandfather. Foster got her start… Read the full story

On this day in 1923, astronaut Alan Shepard was born in East Derry, New Hampshire. Shepard made history when he became the first American to travel into space. Image: Alan Shepard / NASA In 1951, he was one of 110 military test pilots invited by NASA to volunteer for the first U.S. manned space flight program. After a series of grueling physical and psychological tests, Shepard was selected to be one of the original seven… Read the full story

Today we remember actor Ed Asner on what would have been his 95th birthday. Image: Ed Asner / Department of Defense, William D. Moss, Wikimedia Commons Asner was born on November 15, 1929 in Kansas, City, Nebraska. He was one of five children born to Morris David Asner and Elizabeth Seliger and was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family. After serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Asner moved to New York to pursue a career… Read the full story

Happy birthday to King Charles III! Today the King of the United Kingdom turns 76. Image: King Charles III / Arnaud Bouissou, COP Paris, Wikimedia Commons CC0 Charles was born on November 14, 1948 in Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI. The first child and eldest son of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and a then Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (later Queen Elizabeth II), Charles became heir apparent when… Read the full story

Does music run in your family tree? For many legendary musicians, a love for music and talent is a family affair, passed down from one generation to the next. From classical composers to contemporary rock stars, some of history’s most iconic musicians belong to families with rich musical roots. Below we’ll explore a few these fascinating lineages in Geni’s World Family Tree and see how musical talent has shaped entire generations. The Bach Family German… Read the full story

Remember reading Treasure Island? On this day in 1850, author Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. A literary celebrity in his lifetime, today Stevenson is one of the most translated authors in the world. Image: Robert Louis Stevenson / State Library of New South Wales Stevenson was the child of Margaret Balfour and Thomas Stevenson, a leading lighthouse engineer and meteorologist. Lighthouse engineering was a family profession. In addition to his father, two of… Read the full story

Today we remember film icon Grace Kelly on what would have been her 95th birthday. Image: Grace Kelly / Library of Congress She was born on November 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was the third of four children. Her father, John B. Kelly, Sr., was a three-time Olympic gold medalist in sculling and served in the U.S. Army during World War I. After his time in the army, he started a successful brickwork contracting company,… Read the full story

In honor of Veterans Day, today we highlight General George S. Patton who was born on this day in 1885. A hero of World War II, Patton was instrumental to the liberation of Germany from the Nazis. Image: General George Patton / Library of Congress George Smith Patton, Jr. was born on November 11, 1885 in San Gabriel, California. His family had an extensive military background, dating as far back as the American Revolution and the Civil… Read the full story

Image: Bram Stoker / Wikimedia Commons Were you frightened by the story of Dracula as a child? On this day in 1847, author Bram Stoker was born in Dublin, Ireland. Stoker was the third of seven children and was bedridden with an unknown illness until the age of seven. In 1897, Stoker published his most famous work, the Gothic horror novel Dracula. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, he defined its modern form. To… Read the full story

On this day in 1867, renowned physicist Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland. Thanks to her pioneering research on radioactivity, Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win twice in different fields, Physics and Chemistry. Image: Marie Curie / Library of Congress Curie was the fifth and youngest child born to Bronisława Boguska and Władyslaw Sklodowski, both teachers. Her paternal grandfather was also a well known teacher… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Sally Field! Today the actress turns 78. Image: Sally Field / Wikimedia Commons She was born on November 6, 1946 in Pasadena, California to Richard Dryden Field, an Army officer, and Margaret Field, an actress. After her parents divorced, Field’s mother married stuntman Jock Mahoney. With family already in show business, it was natural for Field to follow suit. She landed her first role as the boy-crazed surfer girl in the sitcom Gidget…. Read the full story

Today we remember legendary star Vivien Leigh, who was born on this day in 1913. Image: Vivien Leigh / Wikimedia Commons Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley on November 5, 1913 in Darjeeling, British India. At the age of 19, she married her first husband, Herbert Leigh Holman, and took her husband’s middle name for her stage name, Vivien Leigh. She changed the spelling of her first name because she felt spelling her name with an “e” was… Read the full story

Today we remember iconic music producer Quincy Jones, who passed away at the age of 91. Image: Quincy Jones / Gorup de Besanez, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) Jones was born on March 14, 1933 to Sara Frances Wells and Quincy Delight Jones in Chicago, Illinois. When he was young, his mother suffered from mental illness and was hospitalized in an institution. He found music at a young age and at 14, met a 16-year-old… Read the full story

On this day in 1871, American author Stephen Crane was born in Newark, New Jersey. He is best known for his highly acclaimed novel The Red Badge of Courage, where Crane authentically depicted the realities of battle during the American Civil War and the psychological turmoil of the novel’s protagonist, a Union soldier who grapples with his own cowardice after he flees from the battlefield. Image: Stephen Crane / Wikimedia Commons Crane was the fourteenth child born… Read the full story

Do you like to hear ghost stories? This spooky season, we’re highlighting the Ghosts of North America genealogy project on Geni. This project brings together historical figures whose spirits are said to roam some of the most notable sites across North America. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these spectral personalities who may still walk among us in the shadows. Hiram Mills Perkins Image: Lawrence Sun American, July 20, 1922 / OldNews.com… Read the full story

Remember watching Little House on the Prairie? On this day in 1936, star Michael Landon was born in Queens, New York. Image: Michael Landon / photo by Alan Light, Wikimedia Commons He was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz to Peggy O’Neill, a dancer and comedy actress, and Eli Maurice Orowitz, a theater manager and publicist. Once he started acting school, he changed his name to “Michael Landon” after finding the name in a phone book. In 1959,… Read the full story

On this day in 1735, the second President of the United States, John Adams, was born. A Founding Father, Adams served as the first Vice President to President George Washington before he was elected into office himself as the second President of the United States. Image: John Adams / Wikimedia Commons Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts to John Adams, Sr., a farmer and minister, and Susanna Boylston, an American socialite from a prominent Massachusetts family. The… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Winona Ryder! Today the actress turns 53. Image: Winona Ryder / Karon Liu, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Ryder was born Winona Laura Horowitz on October 29, 1971 in Winona, Minnesota. Her parents named her after the city she was born in and gave her the middle name “Laura” after their friend, Laura Huxley, the wife of author Aldous Huxley. Her father worked as an archivist for Timothy Leary, a psychologists who advocated… Read the full story

Today marks the 110th birthday of Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the first successful polio vaccine. Image: Jonas Salk / San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive Jonas Edward Salk was born on October 28, 1914 in New York City to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants. An intellectually gifted child, Salk was encouraged by his parents to pursue his education. He earned his degree in medicine from New York University, where he determined he did not want to practice… Read the full story

Remember the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”? On this day in 1788, writer Sarah Josepha Hale was born. Image: Sarah Josepha Hale / Wikimedia Commons Hale was born Sarah Josepha Buell on October 24, 1788 in Newport, New Hampshire to captain Gordon Buell and Martha Whittlesay. She was homeschooled by her mother and elder brother and later became a teacher at a local school. In 1813, she married lawyer David Hale and together they had… Read the full story

Heeere’s Johnny! Today we remember late-night host Johnny Carson on what would have been his 99th birthday. Do you remember watching the “King of Late Night”? Image: Johnny Carson / State Library and Archives of Florida Carson was born on October 23, 1925 in Corning, Iowa to Homer Lloyd Carson and Ruth Elizabeth Hook. He showed a talent for entertainment at a young age and performed public magic shows as “The Great Carsoni.” At the age… Read the full story