70s-like wallpapers are out, flower-patterns aren’t hip either. Those who have a large living room could think about a genealogy wallpaper… 
Photo: Flickr
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70s-like wallpapers are out, flower-patterns aren’t hip either. Those who have a large living room could think about a genealogy wallpaper…
Photo: Flickr
When you’re planning a family reunion with all the relatives you love (and those you barely know) you can, of course, wear your newest genealogy shirt. But we’ve got something better for you for this occasion: personalized shirts and all kinds of other gadgets (product range from baby bib to buttons and messenger bags) with a sign that unmistakably mark you as a participant of the reunion! Imagine the family photos with everyone wearing the “Pitt-Jolie Family Reunion” shirts…
Yes, she’s one year old now! She can walk, talk and she’s really popular with the Polish! Moikrewni.pl has quickly become one of the most successful and famous members of the itsourtree.com family. Wars and migrations have led to a widespread Polish heritage all around the world. So why don’t you type in your name in the search function, maybe you discover one or more distant relatives or ancestors among our many thousand Polish users?
Keep cool, folks, we’re about to come up with a new version of itsourtree.com tomorrow! Among the new features are, apart from tighter arrangement of the profiles in your tree:
So, don’t freak out like the furry girl below…
Yesterday’s team event was a special one for all of us: go-cart racing in Hamburg, Germany. We celebrated our new team member Lino (welcome!) and Christian’s farewell, who leaves us to dedicate himself to his own project (Spielerkabine.net). Everyone was well-prepared for the two rounds of 10 mins qualifying and 20 mins race and to rush through the course at heart-stopping full throttle.
After the usual boasting in advance of the race it quickly became clear who had the guts to leave the brake alone and to keep on the racing line.
Here are the results:
Round 1: Daniel G.
Round 2: Steffen P.
Round 3: Daniel G.
Round 4: Christian R.
And this is what we looked like:
The chinese athletes are dominating the olympic games. But can you remember the names of the male winners for the 3m springboard synchronized?
To english speakers it’s often hard to remember the names of chinese athletes.
But there is a hint:
Almost 85% of the chinese population can be listed under only 100 different surnames.
In other words, that means that there are 98 million Wangs and almost the same amount of chinese named Zhang or Li. The reason behind the small number of surnames can be found in the country’s history. The origin of surnames in the chinese culture derives from totems and tribal motives and therefore many families are named after plants or animals. Different from western cultures, in China the surname is spoken always before the name itself.
So in order to identify one Zhang among the milions of other Zhangs, the chinese make use of their creativity to choose first names. It’s common that the parents choose the kids’ names and because of that some chinese are named Qian Quian (money, money) or also recently Aoyun (Olympic Games).
The first names are a reflection of the country’s cultural development and after 40 years of revolution, one shouldn’t be surprised to meet in the streets people named Soldier, Construction or Red!
By the way, the chinese athletes for the springboard synchronized are Wang Feng and Qin Kai
Miller, King or Tailor, the meaning of English last names has been widely explored or can be guessed by the word. But what if your last name is 王 or 曹? On the occasion of the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008, we will have a look at the meanings of Chinese surnames. Although graphically not appealing, this site offers a lot of Chinese surname explanations. Here, you can learn that 王 means Chief or King. So why not try write your name in Chinese if you find the appropriate translation?
Victoria Beckham – nee Adams – David Beckham’s wife and Ex-Spice Girl has Swabian ancestors! At least her great great great grandpa Carl Heinrich Pfänder comes from Heilbronn, Germany.
Local historian and homeland researcher Hans Müller found out about this unusual fact when researching on Heilbronn’s history. Posh Spice’s Mom confirmed the relationship.
Victoria (left ) is not the only celebrity in genealogists focus: recently, family relationships have been reported of Barack Obama and Dick Cheney, Obama and Brad Pitt and Hillary Clinton and Angelina Jolie.
Image: http://www.colourpress.com
Boris Johnson, mayor of London, recently found out that he has a distant familial relationship with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Regnant of the Commonwealth Realms! In a BBC genealogy show, he participated in the search for his ancestors. 
The researchers found out that there are even more “past-time celebs” among his ancestors. Among these are the Swedish and Dutch Royals and the Romanoffs. But it’s even more interesting to come to know distant relatives among the living, isn’t it… From now on, Johnson and the Queen can trace their roots together over a cup of tea.
(Source: Telegraph)
Its very rare, but it happens from time to time. A black mother gave birth to twins last week: One black, one white. No doubt that they have the same (white) father although their phenotype is as different as can be.
I won’t bore you with genetic details but it happens one in a million times; there are only a few other examples for this remarkable phenomenon. In last week’s case, it’s even more remarkable: due to a very rare genetic constellation, the black twin has brown and the white one blue eyes. And they’re soooo cuuuute! 
