November 2024

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

Geni will be performing scheduled site maintenance starting at 5:00pm PST on November 5, 2024 and lasting approximately 20 minutes. During this time, the Geni website will be unavailable. We’ll do our best to complete the maintenance quickly and return to normal service as soon as possible. Many thanks for your patience. The Geni Team

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