I just discovered a brand new (to me anyway) most interesting website:  www.curiositystream.com.  The home page for this site boasts:  “Watch 1000+ nonfiction programs to grow curious minds. There are Trending programs, Science programs, Technology programs, Human Spirit programs, and Civilization programs. Some programs are only a few minutes long, others nearly an hour. Some are offered in several episodes. I just watched Scribes of Ancient Egypt (55 minutes long) and it was great.  If you are among those with curious minds who want to know more, perhaps CuriosityStream would be a website that tweaks your beak. The only downer is that it does cost $2.99 per month……… for unlimited watching. Good deal if you ask me.

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Here is another recommended new-to-me-too website. If you use it, would you please provide some feedback to me??

Hi everyone:      I didn’t know who to send this to, but I’ve just discovered a site that is new to me, and had a tremendous response.  So I sent it to a few of you, and maybe you can pass it along to more.  Free, no sign up required.

  It is http://www.wikitree.com/g2g .  Very cool!  In just 20 minutes I have had more response to my genealogy query on this site, than I’ve had on the Rootsweb/Ancestry family message boards, ever.

  I’m excited! Happy ancestor hunting! Jo

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Great news for users of the RootsMagic genealogy program. RM now partners not just with FamilySearch but will partner (sometimes in 2016) with Ancestry too!  “Does this mean that Ancestry bought RootsMagic? No, was the answer from Bruce Buzbee. If you want to know more about this upcoming partnership, click to rootsmagic.com/ancestry.  And did you also realize that there is a plenty-good-enough FREE version of RootsMagic???? And so far as I know, RootsMagic is the only program that will partner with both FamilySearch and Ancestry.

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We were watching the movie with Russell Crowe, Gladiator, recently. At one point it showed the ancient lighting of the Olympic flame and the movie stated that the flame was ignited from the sun. That piqued my beak!  Asking Grandma Google (who knows everything) I learned that “the ancient Greeks believed that fire was given to humankind by Prometheus, and considered fire to have sacred qualities. Mirrors were used to focus the sun’s rays to ignite flames that would burn perpetually in front of Greek temples. Today, the Olympic flame is lit in front of the ruins of the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece. The flame emphasizes the connection between the ancient games and the modern ones. So the movie was correct!

Thinking of the Olympic games, did you realize that three of the next four Olympic games (summer and winter) will be held in the Orient?  The summer games will be 2016 in Rio de Janiero and 2020 in Tokoyo. The winter games will be 2018 in South Korea and 2022 in Beijing.

What does this have to do with genealogy? Somebody’s ancestors were participants in those games! Perhaps yours?

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Can you name at least five reasons why we live longer than did our ancestors? According to a blurb in our newspaper, “Right now in the U.S. there are more 100 year olds alive than ever before…. And there are many reasons for the increase in the number of centenarians:

• The development of sewage and water systems.
• The discovery of antibiotics.
• The better treatment of age-related diseases.
• The better obstetric care.
• The better health education.

I always marvel when I discover that an ancestor lived to be a “ripe old age” in the 1700-1850 period (the period we know most about our ancestors). Besides hard work, good genes, and a lot of luck, what else did they have going?

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Did your ancestors grow up with palm trees? Before you so quickly say “No!” consider this: There are over 2000 native species that grow in various palm tree locations. They thrive from the Caribbean to Asia; Africa to Australia, some locations in Europe, the U.S. to Canada. South and Central America, Mexico and the Middle East are also home to many varieties.” What’s left? Antarctica??  Seriously, with palm trees growing practically all over the world, and our ancestors coming from all over the world, the answer should be “Likely so!” I’d say yes, our ancestors maybe did grow up with palm trees. Take another look at those old black-and-white photos…… do you see palm trees??

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Here’s an up-to-date good reason for you to investigate the MyHeritage website. This super site has just added over “5 million” Dutch records to their SuperSearch. This database includes birth, marriage and death records from the Rotterdam City Archives, representing an extremely valuable part of Rotterdam heritage from the early 19^th century and on. (These indexes go back only to 1811, but still.)

If you’re needing help with your Dutch research, do click to FamilySearch.org and then to the Wiki. Type “dutch research resources” into the search box……….. and you will get 332 results! Take a look-see at this link for starters:

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/The_Netherlands_Genealogy

 

I shall end today with a bit of trivia……. Answers next week:

1. The sun never sets in northern Norway from May 12 until when?
2. Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk was the real-life model for what fictional castaway?
3. True or false: The deadly Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918 began in Fort Riley, Kansas?