June 2019

We are very excited to announce multiple relationship paths on Geni! Now when relationship paths are calculated between individuals, you will see a blood path and an in-law path, if either can be found. One of the most fun aspects of being connected to the World Family Tree is the ability to see how you are related to anyone else also connected to the tree. Before, Geni would calculate the shortest relationship between the profile… Read the full story

“There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.” Today we remember Helen Keller, who was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Helen Keller / Library of Congress Struck blind and deaf before the age of two, Keller had very limited means of communication. Her family was referred to Alexander Graham Bell, who recommended they travel to the… Read the full story

On this day in 1892, author Pearl S. Buck was born. In 1938, Buck became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Pearl Buck / Library of Congress Buck was born Pearl Sydenstricker in Hillsboro, West Virginia on June 26, 1892 to Southern Presbyterian missionaries, Absalom and Caroline Sydenstricker. When Buck was 5 months old, the family moved to China, where she would live for much of her life. In 1931, Buck published… Read the full story

MyHeritage has released the full schedule for MyHeritage LIVE 2019 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The second annual MyHeritage user conference will take place September 6-8, 2019. Attendees will have the opportunity to choose from three tracks: Genealogy, DNA, and hands-on workshops. The conference has a full line-up of international speakers and local experts as well as several MyHeritage staff members, including MyHeritage Founder and CEO Gilad Japhet. See the full MyHeritage LIVE 2019 schedule Geni’s General Manager, Mike… Read the full story

Today we remember singer George Michael on what would have been his 56th birthday. Image: Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on June 25, 1963 in London, England. His father, Kyriacos Panayiotou, was a Greek Cypriot restauranteur and his mother, Lesley Angold Harrison, was an English dancer. From an early age, Michael had a passion for music. He met future Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley as a teen in school… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Lionel Richie! Today the popular singer turns 70. Lionel Richie / U.S. State Department Richie was born on June 20, 1949 in Tuskegee, Alabama. He spent much of his childhood growing up on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute, where two generations of his family worked. In fact, his grandfather worked with the famous founder and educator, Booker T. Washington, at the university. Music was a part of Richie’s life from a young age. His grandmother was… Read the full story

On this day in 1983, astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger for NASA’s 7th space shuttle mission. Sally Ride / U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Ride was born on May 26, 1951 to Dale Burdell Ride and Carol Joyce Anderson in Encino, California. Her path to NASA began when she responded to an advertisement in the Stanford student newspaper for NASA’s Astronaut Group 8. It would be the first time… Read the full story

On June 14, the United States celebrates Flag Day in commemoration of the adoption of the U.S. flag. In honor of Flag Day, here are some interesting facts about the Stars and Stripes. 1. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution to adopt the official flag of the United States, which had 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 stars in a blue field. That same day, the Continental Congress also established the Continental Army…. Read the full story

“Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.” – Anne Frank Ninety years ago today, Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Edith Holländer Frank and Otto Frank, a businessman. By 1934, the family had moved to Amsterdam after the Nazi party came to power in Germany. Image: Wikimedia Commons For her 13th birthday, Anne was given a diary and immediately began writing in it. Shortly after, her older sister,… Read the full story

Today Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, celebrates his 98th birthday! Image: Nationaal Archief Prince Philip was born on June 10, 1921 in Mon Repos on the Greek Island of Corfu. He was the only son and fifth child born to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Through his maternal grandmother, Philip is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria, who is his second great grandmother. As an infant, his family was banished from Greece after… Read the full story

We had a great time at the Southern California Genealogical Society’s 50th Genealogy Jamboree. The annual conference is a favorite for us because it is located right in our own backyard in Burbank, California. The Geni booth before the start of the conference Many genealogists flocked to the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel to participate in this fun and engaging conference. The exhibit hall was open to the public, so even those who didn’t… Read the full story

On this day in 1599, Spanish painter Diego Velázquez was born. Today Velázquez is remembered as one of the most important Spanish painters of the 17th century. Diego Velázquez / Wikimedia Commons He was born Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez in Seville, Spain to João Rodrigues de Silva and Jerónima Velázquez. His paternal grandparents were from Portugal and were possibly Jewish coversos. At the age of 12, Velázquez apprenticed under the painter Francisco Pacheco. After completing… Read the full story

On this day in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot three times at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Kennedy died of his wounds the following day. Robert F. Kennedy / Nationaal Archief, CC0 He was born Robert Francis Kennedy on November 20, 1925 to Joseph Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald in Brookline, Massachusetts. The seventh child of the prominent Kennedy clan, Kennedy grew up in a close but competitive environment. In 1950, he married Ethel Skakel and together… Read the full story