Genetic Genealogy

Genealogy tip for today: Highlighting today’s genealogy blog

 

 

Genetic Genealogy

 

Genealogy Tip for today: Today we are going to talk about Genetic Genealogy. This is a relatively new phenomenon in the genealogy world.

But it is a fast growing and popular part of genealogy. The tests for this are simple and do not cause any physical harm. Basically, you have a test run on your DNA through a simple cheek swab or spittle. No needles! No blood drawn! It can’t get much simpler than that.  

DNA testing doesn’t give you the names of your relatives but it will link you into the DNA pool and tell you what part of the world your ancestors are from. But more than that, you may find names of relatives through this means, only because so many people are participating in this adventure and names are linked to the DNA results. Those who have given permission for their information to be made public will be able to find others that are related to them. 

One big advantage I can see in doing this is helping you to break down a brick wall you may have come up against. And the more people who participate, the bigger the “pool” is to find connections. One individual decided to take the test. He is African-American and could not find out much about his ancestry. His family told him when he was young they were just American slaves and knew nothing more.  

When he learned about the offer to have his DNA tested for origins, he submitted his DNA and was amazed at the results. He discovered where in Africa his ancestors had come but besides African he learned he had European roots. As a result he has connected with other cousins he didn’t know he had. A picture of him with two of these cousins was posted in the article. 

I have a librarian colleague who has had these tests done. She is frequently posting new connections that she finds as a result of her DNA tests. I should mention here that there are different kinds of DNA tests you can have done. The two most common are your male line (your father’s father’s father, and his father, etc.) and your female line, (your mother’s mother’s mother…etc). The male line is the patriarchal line. The female line is your matriarchal line. There are more advance tests that can be done and they offer different and fuller results.  

Costs vary. If you have only one test done and find it on sale, you might pay only $69.00. If you want a complete range of results it could cost you nearly $7000.00. Some places offer you the opportunity to get a basic test done now then build on it down the road. 

Following are different websites and blogs that talk about Genetic Genealogy. Many offer tests that you can have done. Lessons or explanations are often listed on these sites that help the beginner learn more about it. News and announcements are also posted for you to keep up to date. 

DNA  genealem’s genetic genealogy  

The Genetic Genealogist

Your Genetic Genealogist

These three are very popular sites for testing:
Ancestry.com

23 and Me

National Geographic Genographic Project

This gives you list of other sites:

ISOGG’s master list of Genetic Genealogists -

Various families are also doing a DNA projects for their family surname. This website gives you a list of some of those sites:  Genealogy Blog Finder – Genetic Genealogy sites.  

 

These are just a very few that I looked at.  A ‘master list’ will give you a lot more that you can search and read. This is a fascinating and growing topic. Hopefully what little I have shared here with you will pique your interest in this fascinating world of DNA.

 

Blogs Researched:

Julies Genealogy and History Hub

Olive Tree

We Tree

Billiongraves.com

Teach Yourself Family History

Legacy Family Tree News

Climbing My Family Tree

Genealogy Bank

Jayne Shrimpton’s Blog

Genealogy’s Star

Find My Past

Ancestry Insider

Granite in my Blood

The Genealogy blog     

Dear Mytle

Photo Detective

Genealogue

Genea-Musings

Ancestry.com/blog               

 

 

 

 

Today in History

 

337   Constantine's three sons, already Caesars, each take the title of Augustus. Constantine II and Constans share the west while Constantius II takes control of the east.

William the Conqueror

1087 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, dies in Rouen while conducting a war which began when the French king made fun of him for being fat.

1513 King James IV of Scotland is defeated and killed by English at Flodden.

1585 Pope Sixtus V deprives Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown.

1776 The term "United States" is adopted by the Continental Congress to be used instead of the "United Colonies."

George Washington, 1795

1786 George Washington calls for the abolition of slavery.

1791 French Royalists take control of Arles and barricade themselves inside the town.

1834 Parliament passes the Municipal Corporations Act, reforming city and town governments in England.

1850 California, in the midst of a gold rush, enters the Union as the 31st state.

1863 The Union Army of the Cumberland passes through Chattanooga as they chase after the retreating Confederates. The Union troops will soon be repulsed at the Battle of Chickamauga.

1886 The Berne International Copyright Convention takes place.

1911 An airmail route opens between London and Windsor.

German Zeppelin

1915 A German zeppelin bombs London for the first time, causing little damage.

1926 The Radio Corporation of America creates the National Broadcasting Co.

1942 A Japanese float plane, launched from a submarine, makes its first bombing run on a U.S. forest near Brookings, Oregon.

1943 Allied troops land at Salerno, Italy and encounter strong resistance from German troops.

1948 Kim Il-sung declares the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

1956 Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; cameras focus on his upper torso and legs to avoid showing his pelvis gyrations, which many Americans—including Ed Sullivan—thought unfit for a family show.

1965 US Department of Housing and Urban Development established.

1965 Hurricane Betsy, the first hurricane to exceed $1 billion in damages (unadjusted), makes its second landfall, near New Orleans.

1969 Canada's Official Languages Act takes effect, making French equal to English as a language within the nation's government.

1970 U.S. Marines launch Operation Dubois Square, a 10-day search for North Vietnamese troops near DaNang.

1971 Attica Prison Riot; the 4-day riot leaves 39 dead.

Mao Tse-tung
 

1976 Communist Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung dies in Beijing at age 82.

1990 Sri Lankan Army massacres 184 civilians of the Tamil minority in the Batticaloa District of Sri Lanka.

1991 Tajikstan declares independence from USSR.

1993 The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state.

2001 Two al Qaeda assassins kill Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.

2001 A car bomb explodes outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, killing 10 people.

 

Birthdays today:

1585 Duc Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, French cardinal and statesman who helped build France into a world power under the leadership of King Louis XIII.

1828 Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (War and Peace, Anna Karenina).

1887 Alfred M. Landon, Republican governor of Kansas who carried only two states in his overwhelming defeat for the presidency by Franklin Roosevelt in 1936.

Alf Landon

1890 Colonel Harland Sanders, originator of Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurants.

1900 James Hilton, British novelist who authored Lost Horizon and Goodbye Mr. Chips and created the imaginary world of "Shangri-La."

1905 Joseph E. Levine, film producer, founder of Embassy Pictures Corporation, an independent studio and distributor of films such as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, The Graduate, A Bridge Too Far, and The Lion in Winter.

1908 Shigekazu Shimazaki, Japanese commander and pilot who led the second wave of the air attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941; posthumously promoted to admiral in 1945.

1922 Bernard Bailyn, historian, author; received Pulitzer Prize for History (1968, 1987), and National Humanities Medal (2010).

1922 Hoyt Curtin, composer and music producer; primary musical director for Hanna-Barbera animation studio (The Flintstones, Top Cat, The Smurfs).

1934 Sonia Sanchez, poet.

1941 Otis Redding, singer, songwriter, record producer, known as the "King of Soul"; "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," "Respect."

Otis Redding

1949 Joe Theismann, American football player, sports announcer; member of College Football Hall of Fame; winning quarterback, Super Bowl XVII.

1949 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian general, 6th president of Indonesia.

1960 Hugh Grant, actor, film producer; awards include Golden Globe (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and London Critics Circle's British Actor of the Year (About a Boy)

1966 Adam Sandler, actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer (Saturday Night Live, Happy Gilmore).

1975 Michael Buble, multiple Grammy and Juno award–winning singer, songwriter, actor (Crazy Love, It's Time).

1980 Michelle Williams, Golden Globe–winning actress (My Week with Marilyn).

1988 Jo Woodcock, actress (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Torn TV miniseries).

 

 

Word for the day:  This week’s theme: what to call people at work.

factotum

PRONUNCIATION:

(fak-TOH-tuhm)

 

MEANING:

noun: A servant or a low-level employee tasked with many things.

 

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin factotum, from facere (to do) + totus (all). Earliest documented use: 1573.

 

USAGE:

"Now, a reporter trying to interview a business source is confronted by a phalanx of factotums."
David Carr; The Puppetry of Quotation Approval; The New York Times; Sep 16, 2012.

 

 

Quote for the day:

It is as easy to dream a book as it is hard to write one. -Honore de Balzac, novelist (1799-1850)

 

Home Cooking Month

Today’s Recipe

Salisbury Steak

 

 

Meat Mixture:

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon ketchup

2 teaspoons dry mustard

4 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1 cube beef bouillon, crumbled (or powdered beef base)

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

 

Gravy:

1 whole onion, halved and thinly sliced (or diced if you prefer)

2 cups beef broth, more if needed for thinning

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon seasoning sauce, such as Kitchen Bouquet, optional

4 dashes Worcestershire

1 teaspoon cornstarch, optional

Salt and pepper

Directions

For the meat mixture: Combine the ground beef, breadcrumbs, ketchup, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon and some salt and pepper. Knead until all combined. Form into 4 to 6 oval patties, and then make lines across the patties to give them a "steak" appearance.

Fry the patties in a skillet with the butter and oil over medium-high heat on both sides until no longer pink in the middle. Remove from the skillet and pour off any excess grease.

For the gravy: Reduce the heat to medium and add in the sliced onions. Stir and cook until golden brown and somewhat soft, for several minutes. Add the beef stock, ketchup, seasoning sauce, if using, and the Worcestershire. Then combine the cornstarch with a little beef broth and add to the sauce if using. Stir and cook to reduce.

Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and more broth if needed for thinning. Then return the patties to the gravy. Spoon the gravy over the top and let them simmer and heat back up for a couple of minutes.

 

 

ENJOY!

 

Now You Know!