This article is not about genealogy records, though they will at some point in the future be affected by the event, it is about a terrible crime. I couldn’t help but be deeply moved by this story, and not in a pleasant way.
It doesn’t take much to become a genealogist, you simply have to say that wish to become one and begin tracing your family’s history. If you have already begun to search your ancestors you’re a bona fide genealogist, and as such you may want to consider joining a genealogical society. There are many benefits to becoming a member; besides meeting potential new friends (even relatives) with similar interests, they are a great place to learn research methods and to gain access to unique historical collections. I first joined a society last year, and the benefits are fantastic. Besides holding seminars and providing research materials, I’m often the first to know about the release of new records. There are several different types of society, each having its own particular interests and aims, so let’s review their various forms in order for you to best decide which is best for you.
Saturday October 15, 2011 saw the National Archives formally dedicating their new National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Mo. In celebration of that dedication, the Archives have released three new videos that take you behind the scenes of various departments within the Archives that are both interesting and educational. The videos are available at the National Archives YouTube Channel, which also features links to their many valuable online exhibits
I recently had the opportunity of viewing the movie “Mongol”, a film based on the life of the warrior king Genghis Khan. It was a good film, if you like that sort of thing, but the best part of it was that it invoked a memory of a Human Genetics study that I had forgotten about, and of which you may not have heard. If you are aware of the study, then perhaps you’ll enjoy having your memory refreshed as I have, as the study revealed quite an interesting genealogical theory. If true the theory thus accounts for the drive to succeed and reign supreme at the top of our chosen fields that exists within many of us, if not, it simply means that we’re working like crazy to meet our financial needs and obligations and put our kids through college! I’ll let you be the judge of whichever thesis best suits your own personal circumstances or personality, you’ll know better after reading about the study.
The teeth of four plague victims uncovered in east London have yielded fragments of DNA that is 700 years old, and thought to be that of the bug which causes the Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the “Black Death”. Scientists have managed to reconstruct the complete genetic code of the Yersinia pestis bug, which killed up to 50% of the population of Europe (around 100 million) in the five years between 1347 and 1351. It is the very first time that researchers have had success in successfully drafting the genome of any pathogen or other disease causing agent from ancient times. Yes it’s amazing, but a little scary too, don’t you think, especially since they consider the particular strain they reconstructed as the mother of all modern bacteria associated with the Bubonic Plague.
