December 2024

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