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Titanic Records Released for 100 Year Anniversary

April 10, 2012 by  
Filed under Articles, Latest News

April 15th 1912 is the date that marks the sinking of the RMS Titanic. In remembrance of this, the 100th anniversary marking the loss of 1500 souls, a collection of over 200,000 records have been published.

 

 

 

Included in the collection are:

  • The Titanic’s Passenger List
  • Information on Crew Members
  • Coroners files
  • Records about recovered bodies

Ancestry.com has released this data to correspond with the date of the ships sinking and until May 31 2012, access to this information is free. In addition to the above-mentioned records those interested in genealogy research involving the Titanic will have access to headstone photos of the 121 victims of the tragedy buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Halifax Nova Scotia.

Some exciting news for Titanic and Americana Historians is the inclusion of documents that reference John Jacob Astor IV (American Millionaire), Isador Straus (Macy Department store co-Owner) and Benjamin Guggenheim (businessman).  Those who love celebrity genealogy will be thrilled to hear that the collection also include references to Margaret Brown who may be better known from movie fame as the “Unsinkable Molly Brown”.

Access to these records may aid Family Tree enthusiasts in solving their genealogy mysteries and lead to adding a few more names to your Family Tree Templates.

 

“Finding Your Roots” Premiers Sunday

March 21, 2012 by  
Filed under Articles, Latest News

Mark your calendars for Sunday March 25 8pm EDT to watch the premier of “Finding Your Roots” with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Perhaps what makes “Finding Your Roots” one of the most interesting celebrity genealogy programs to date is the element of surprise as Gates escorts his guests through some shocking revelations in search of their ancestors.

 

Each episode features the genealogy of two or more celebrities. With the help of some leading American Genealogists, Family History experts and DNA samples. The show often links guests together in surprising ways using Autosomal DNA.

Scientists Joanna Mountain and Mike Macpherson of “23and Me” (genetics testing company) worked with “Finding Your Roots” to come up with some often-astonishing results.  Proving relationships by degrees such as 3rd, 4th, 5th cousins (or more) is accomplished using the genetics company’s “Relative Finder” test.

This seasons 10 part series features a celebrity Line up of:

·         Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis

·         Cory Booker and John Lewis

·         TV Personalities Barbera Walters and Geoffrey Canada

·         Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick

·         Angela Buchdahl, Rick Warren and Yasir Qadhi

·         Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Ruth Simmons

·         Actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey, Jr.

·         Sanjay Gupta, Margaret Cho and Martha Stewart

·         John Legend, Wanda Sykes and Margarett Cooper

·         Michelle Rodriguez, Adrian Grenier and Linda Chavez

Watch Preview on PBS. See more from Finding Your Roots.