December 2021

It’s New Year’s Eve! It wouldn’t be a New Year’s celebration without hearing the holiday’s signature song, “Auld Lang Syne.” Did you know Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote “Auld Lang Syne” in 1788? Image: Robert Burns / Library of Congress The song was set to the tune of an old Scottish folk song and was never intended to be a holiday song. Nevertheless, the song gained enormous popularity and it became tradition to sing the song to… Read the full story

Today marks the 156th 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

Do you have inventors in your family tree? On this day in 1800, inventor and chemist Charles Goodyear was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Goodyear invented the process of vulcanization, which revolutionized the rubber industry. Image: Charles Goodyear / Library of Congress Goodyear was the eldest of six children born to Amasa Goodyear and Cynthia Bateman. His third great grandfather, Stephen Goodyear, was one of the founders of the colony of New Haven in 1638. After his… Read the full story

As the year comes to a close, we’re looking back at 2021 on Geni. We’re proud of the many new enhancements to Sources introduced to Geni and along the way, hit a new milestone in the World Family Tree. Although we are still in the midst of the pandemic, we are grateful that we were still able to connect with the genealogical community through virtual conferences throughout the year. Here’s a look back at our… 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 1823, the popular holiday poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” was first published in the Troy New York Sentinel. Today the poem is more commonly known as “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Although initially published anonymously, Clement Clarke Moore would later claim authorship of the poem. However, in recent years, some have claimed that the poem’s true author may actually be Henry Livingston, Jr. Image: New York Public Library Since its publication, the poem has become… Read the full story

On this day in 1706, French mathematician Émilie du Châtelet was born. Image: Émilie du Châtelet / Wikimedia Commons Du Châtelet was born Garbielle Émilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil on December 17, 1706 in Paris, France. Her father, Louis Nicolas le Tonnelier de Breteuil, was a member of the lesser nobility. He held a weekly salon, to which well-respected writers and scientists were often invited. An intelligent child, du Châtelet’s father brought in tutors to… Read the full story

German composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born 251 years ago. Image: Ludwig van Beethoven / Library of Congress Beethoven was born in Bonn in the Electorate of Cologne, which was then a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Although there is no known record of the exact date of his birth, it is known that his baptism took place on December 17, 1770. Since baptisms typically took place a day after birth during this time,… Read the full story

Today we remember Walt Disney, who died on this day in 1966 at the age of 65. Image: Walt Disney / NASA He was born Walter Elias Disney on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to Elias Charles Disney and Flora Call Disney. At 16, he tried to join the U.S. army during World War I, but was rejected for being underage. Undeterred, he joined the American Red Cross and worked as an ambulance driver… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Dick Van Dyke! Today the star turns 96. Image: Dick Van Dyke / Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) Richard Wayne Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925 in West Plains, Missouri to Hazel Victoria McCord, a stenographer, and Loren Wayne Van Dyke, a salesman. During World War II, Van Dyke enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and eventually served as a radio announcer before transferring to the Special… Read the full story

On this day in 1830, American poet Emily Dickinson was born. A prolific writer, Dickinson wrote over 1800 poems, however less than a dozen were published during her lifetime. It was not until after her death that a cache of her poetry was discovered and published. Image: Emily Dickinson / Wikimedia Commons Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 1830 to a prominent New England family. Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, was a founder… Read the full story

Happy birthday to Donny Osmond! Today the singer and former teen idol turns 64. Image: Donny Osmond / Nationaal Archief, CC0 Osmond was born on December 9, 1957 in Ogden, Utah and was the seventh son born to George Osmond and Olive Davis. A natural performer, Osmond began singing at a very young age alongside his older brothers as part of the musical group The Osmonds. His talent made him a standout performer and he… Read the full story

Today we remember famous Rat Pack performer Sammy Davis, Jr., who was born on this day in 1925. Image: Sammy Davis, Jr. / Nationaal Archief, Wikimedia Commons CCO Samuel George Davis, Jr. was born in Harlem, New York to Sammy Davis, Sr., an African-American entertainer, and Elvera Sanchez, a tap dancer of Afro-Cuban descent. Davis began his career in show business as a small child dancing in his father’s vaudeville act. During World War II, he… Read the full story

Do you have pioneer ancestors? On this day in 1873, author Willa Cather was born in Winchester, Virginia. Cather is perhaps best remembered for her vivid portrayal of frontier life on the Great Plains in her novels, O Pioneers! and My Ántonia. Image: Willa Cather / Library of Congress Wilella Sibert Cather was born on her maternal grandmother’s farm in the Back Creek Valley near Winchester, Virginia. Although most may think of her as a Nebraskan,… Read the full story

Do you have Dutch ancestry? On this day in 1792, William II, King of the Netherlands, was born. He was the eldest son of William I, the first King of the Netherlands, and Wilhelmine of Prussia, the daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia and William I’s first cousin. Image: William II of the Netherlands / Wikimedia Commons In 1816, he married Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia, the youngest sister of Alexander I of Russia. Following his father’s… Read the full story

On this day in 1857, author Joseph Conrad was born in Berdychiv in what was then the Russian Empire. Regarded as one of the greatest novelists in the English language, Conrad was in his twenties before he was able to speak the language fluently. Image: Joseph Conrad / New York Public Library He was born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski to Polish parents, Apollo Korzeniowski and Ewelina Bobrawska. Conrad’s family belonged to the Polish szlachta (nobility) and were… 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

Happy birthday to Bette Midler! Today the singer and actress turns 76. Image: Bette Midler / Alan Light, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Bette Midler was born on December 1, 1945 in Honolulu, Hawaii to Ruth Schindel, a seamstress, and Fred Midler, a painter at a Navy base. She was named after Bette Davis, one of her mother’s favorite actresses. Growing up in Hawaii, Bette’s family was one of the few Jewish families in the neighborhood. She attended Radford… Read the full story