January 2017

Happy Chinese New Year! This lunar year welcomes the Year of the Rooster, which begins Saturday, January 28.  Also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, the holiday is celebrated across 15 days in many countries around the world. At its core, the holiday is about home and family. Steeped in tradition, symbolism and superstition, Chinese New Year is an important time for families to reunite to honor their ancestors. Multiple generations and extended family… Read the full story

Yesterday, beloved TV icon Mary Tyler Moore died in Greenwich, Connecticut at the age of 80. She starred in two classic television shows and helped change the portrayal of women on television. When The Mary Tyler Moore Show first premiered in 1970, it marked the first time a single, never-married, independent career woman was the central character on TV. The show would go on to influence generations of viewers. The Mary Tyler Moore Show / Wikimedia Commons In… Read the full story

Today we celebrate what would have been legendary actor Paul Newman’s 92nd birthday! Born on January 26, 1925, Newman was the second son of Theresa Fetzko and Aurthur Sigmund Newman. His mother was born in Homonna in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Slovakia) and his father was the son of Jewish immigrants from Hungary and Poland. As a child, Newman showed an early interest in theater and participated in school plays. While in college, Newman enlisted in… Read the full story

Do you have any Confederate ancestors? On this day in 1807, General Robert E. Lee was born at Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the son of Major General Henry Lee III and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter. During the American Revolution, Lee’s father served as a cavalry officer in the Continental Army, where he earned the nickname “Light-Horse Harry” for his horsemanship. Did you know Lee’s family was one of… Read the full story

When Geni first launched in January 2007, we had one very ambition goal: to create a family tree of the whole world! We invited users to build their family trees and invite their relatives to join them. What began as several smaller family trees naturally led to merging overlapping families, connecting these separate trees into one big tree. Now, thanks to the collaborative efforts of millions of genealogists and family historians, Geni’s World Family Tree has grown to over 112 million profiles! Geni’s… Read the full story

Happy birthday, Betty White! Today the funny actress turns 95. Betty Marion White was born January 17, 1922 in Oak Park, Illinois to Christine Cachikis and Horace White. Her maternal grandfather was born in Greece, while her paternal grandfather was Danish. She got her start in radio and television shortly after graduating high school and by the 1940s, she had her own radio show called The Betty White Show. A pioneer of television, White became one of the first… Read the full story

Have you checked out your family map lately? If the profiles in your family tree have their birth or current locations entered, you can easily see them displayed on a world map. The map page is also a great way to see if you have any relatives in the family tree that are missing these locations on their profiles. To view the map, click on Family at the top of the page and select Map. Here you… Read the full story

On this day in 1913, actress Loretta Young was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was born Gretchen Young to John Earle Young and Gladys Royal. When she was two, her parents divorced and she and her two sisters moved to Hollywood with their mother. By the age of three, Young began working as a child extra in silent films. After signing her first film contract, she was given the name Loretta. Over the course… Read the full story

It’s the start of a New Year! Now is the best time to set your genealogy goals for 2017. Check out a few New Year’s resolution ideas to get you started in 2017: Take a DNA test and add your test results to your family tree on Geni Finally break through that troublesome brick wall in your family tree Visit the graves of your ancestors and take photos of their tombstones to add to their profiles Order… Read the full story

Do you remember watching Falcon Crest? On this day in 1917, actress Jane Wyman was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri. She was born Sarah Jane Mayfield to Manning Jefferies Mayfield and Gladys Hope Christian. Shortly after her parents divorced in 1921, her father died unexpectedly. She was taken in by neighbors, while her mother moved to Ohio. During this time, she adopted the surname of her foster parents, Fulks. She began her career in Hollywood during the 1930s… Read the full story