One Reddit question brought plenty of ancestral discoveries to the surface.
Household names carry long lineages, and some folks are proud to call themselves distant cousins to a legend. For some, it's the more obscure kind of fame: an absurd crime or a coincidental collision with a historical event.
But they are all good stories. They make the historical past feel a bit more human and relatable. After all, these ancestors were simply people like us, full of schemes and blunders. They may have had different wars and technologies, but the resemblance is easy to spot.
DreamSailor01 asked, "Do you have a famous ancestor? If so, what were they known for?"
One of those Faces
"I'm related to the bald guy who posed for the "American Gothic" painting with the pitchfork."
"I looked it up, and it turns out he's my fourth cousin, twice removed."
Namesakes
"One of my great-great-great grand fathers was Chang Bunker, who was conjoined at the stomach to his brother, Eng. They were born in Siam (now known as Thailand) became famous for being in the P.T. Barnum's circus."
"The term 'Siamese Twins' comes from them."
-- SKW1DZ
Generational Change
"Johann Jakob Astor"
"John Jacob Astor was a German–American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul and investor who mainly made his fortune in a fur trade monopoly and by investing in real estate in or around New York City."
"Known for: First multi-millionaire businessman in the United States."
"Still living in his home town and he is still sort of getting glorified here."
"I'm poor though."
-- Pandafishe
A Sequel?!
"My uncle is a Power Ranger, you may know him as the green ranger or Jason David Frank."
"He's known as a Power Ranger and is working on another Kickstarter movie and even has his own karate class."
A Historic Schemer
"I have an uncle who is the reason DUI breathalyzer ignitions have a timer because he would drive to the bar and let it idle while he drank." -- williebobthornton
"He's the problem AND the problem solver. Excellent." -- Mercurial8
"Your uncle is Jean Ralphio Saperstein? You know your boy is a question on the bar exam, right?" -- adjust_the_sails
Dying Industries
"Great-grandfather on my mom's side was a samurai. He emigrated to America because that was the point Japan didn't need samurai anymore."
"I still have the family mon (crest), but the sword was lost during WWII... the family that offered to look over the farm while they were gone stole it."
Bit of a Reach, but Acceptable
"Johann Sebastian Bach. One of his daughters married into my family, which makes him my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather." -- warboy3
"You're within 7 generations of Bach so you may have roughly <1% chance of having some of his DNA!" -- jamjamsify
These Actors Seemed Miscast But Absolutely Nailed The Role | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
The Actors Who Seemed Miscast But Absolutely Nailed The RoleFew people bought into the idea of Bryan Cranston in the role of Walter White before Breaking Bad...Legendary Clutz
"He was on the Mayflower. And fell off." -- fi55ion
"Thank goodness he made it back on or a lot of us wouldn't be around! My dad and I did our family tree years ago and had fun tracing our ancestors back to him." -- eosean
"He wasn't in a knife fight was he? I had a relative in the Mayflower that was in technically the first knife fight and I think he was the loser." -- Steveisnotcaptain
An Important Trip
"She wasn't famous but my great grandmother was on the ship that rescued the Titanic survivors." -- dahopppa
"Great! My great grandfather was on the titanic himself! He survived so maybe he has met your great grandmother lol" -- tijoyo
"My grandmother was just a child, but she was sailing from Wales at that time and remembers the adults talking about a ship that was sinking." -- JibbityJabbity
Finally Making Amends
"Related to Bridget Bishop, first woman hung in the Salem witch trials." -- dadoliver
"I'm descended from John Hale, who was instrumental in starting the Salem witch trials, and later changed his mind and helped get them stopped."
"A belated 'sorry' from my family to yours." -- rickpo
Intersecting Family Trees
"William Randolph Hearst. Famous for being Citizen Kane." -- broberds
"Patricia, his daughter, robbed my uncle's gun store with the Symbionese Liberation Army." -- SalesAutopsy
"I've been to his house. Nice place." -- Hazi-Tazi
"Legend has it he was instrumental in getting pot demonized and illegalized because hemp was a major competitor to his business interests, paper or petroleum or something." -- timsstuff
Not a Legend, But a Family Treasure Nonetheless
"He's not extremely famous now but my great great grandfather was Joe Fox. Joe Fox was a famous English boxer in the 1920s, he won a Lonsdale belt by the time he was 23 when that achievement was very competitive and (i think) he ended up winning three total."
"I remember my grandma showing it to me in a glass display box before we sent it to a museum."
-- wheatgrass-
A Very Normalizing Comment Thread
"I have two. John Adams, and John Quincy Adams." -- CantSpeakSpanish
"WHAT'S UP RELATIVE. I TOO AM A DESCENDANT." -- counterspell
"WAIT ME TOO, WHATS UP GUYS" -- smith-512
"Same here; that means you're related to a shitload of early American names - from pilgrims on down." -- this_is_trash_really
"Edit: My lineage apparently got around." -- CantSpeakSpanish
Morbid Claims to Fame
"Grandfather was the first person to be sentenced to death after Texas reinstated the death penalty in the 70's." -- OneFeedback3
"Wait they cancelled it then brought it back?!" -- JackofScarlets
"My ancestors Blackjack Ketchum is the only person to have been executed in New Mexico. The executioner botched the hanging and decapitated him, offending the townspeople so much they voted to ban capital punishment." -- greenIdbandit
Powerhouse
"My great great (not sure how many greats) grandfather was the checkers champion of England." -- thisnameisfineiguess
"Now this one is the best one on here." -- ThrowRA407
"I wonder how many generations pass before the good-at-checkers gene is gone. I'm sure the checker champ's son is pretty good at checkers, but is his son?" -- [deleted]
"My dad won my church domino tournament once." -- whogonecheckme
The Most Current of Ancestors
"My uncle is a famous singer from Ireland, he's not big in the US but massive everywhere else, he's part of a band called Westlife, his name is Shane Filan He's still alive but yeah there you go." -- bigboomer420
"I am Irish. Can confirm that Shane Filan is very famous." -- fofieflamingo
"Misread that as porn star and was slightly bewildered and also slightly impressed that you were so comfortably dropping your uncles stage name." -- Vibr8_
Wonder if They Were All Friends
"My great great uncle murdered an FBI agent and subsequently spent time in Alcatraz. He was there at the same time as Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone."
"For those curious, his name is Guy Osborne and he murdered Truett E. Rowe." -- PeavyNeckVeins
"I have an ancestor who was an FBI agent and was shot in the head by Baby Face Nelson. Survived, too!" -- tadadaism
"That rapper that squared up with Eminem?" -- nicholasgnames
Bloodlines to the Losing Side
"Both Robert E. Lee and William T. Sherman. One led the Confederate forces and the other burned down Atlanta and everything in his path on the way there..." -- Gonty_68_RS
"Robert E. Lee is a descendant of George Washington, so you've got that, too." -- JPMcGowan
"But he spared Savannah! Thank goodness!" -- NotWorriedABunch
Reddit user infinite_boredom wanted to talk about what other epic and interesting moments didn't get covered in school.
They asked:
"What is a interesting piece of history that is NOT taught in school?"
Let me say this—most books make history seem really really boring compared to what was actually going on.
We talk about wars and successions and monarchies in such a sanitized way it's almost a shame. Imagine how much fun we could all be having if we knew this stuff.
Meth Nazis
"That Nazi Germany's soldiers were able to fight for so long and put up the resistance that they did because the government was providing them with and incentivizing the use of methamphetamine. Also, that Hitler had a very serious opioid addiction, which many believe to be the reason why he ultimately lost the war."
"The greatest irony is that the Nazi Party, in public, actively condemned drug use. Meanwhile Hitler and much of the high command were very very high all the time."
Penises And Fleeing
"Alcibiades, a statesman and student of Socrates, got really drunk and rode around Athens in his chariot knocking the penis's off the Hemes statues at all the intersections. He then had to flee the country to avoid being charged with the crime of impiety. He fled to Sparta, where he slept with the king of Sparta's wife.. necessitating further fleeing all the way to Persia.. where the Persian king kept him around as a sort of curiosity."
- alfiar
Night Witches
"Throughout high school and the entirety of my history degree, not once were we told about the Night Witches. They were a squadron of Soviet female pilots that would bomb German camps in the dead of night during WW2. The fascinating thing is, they had to fly the loudest planes known to man. Basically, whilst flying solo, they would have to shut off the engine in mid air, cruise low enough to drop the bombs, climb out onto the wing to restart the engine, and get the hell outta dodge. The name Night Witches came from the sound the idle planes would make. Russian women are badass."
The Nightmare Continued
"After WW2, the treatment of homosexuals in concentration camps went unacknowledged by most countries including America, and some men were even re-arrested and imprisoned based on evidence found during the Nazi years. At the end of the war, when the concentration camps were finally liberated, virtually all of the prisoners were released except those who wore the pink triangle. Many of those with a pink triangle on their pocket were put back in prison and their nightmare continued."
Too Drunk Too Kill
"Rasputin was literally too drunk all of the time to realize that he was, in fact, in the process of being assassinated. He survived being shot because he swayed too much so they missed anything vital and he just didn't bleed."
"They tried to poison him, but because he was a raging alcoholic and most definitely took heavy drugs while leading his all female orgy rave cult, his body had built up an immunity to certain toxicities.
"Rasputin was literally revered as a god-like entity because he was just so smashed all of the time that they couldn't kill him."
"Ironically, he eventually was found dead face down in a creek - supposedly because he was piss drunk and stoned when he went romping through the woods after his most recent Parade and fell and drowned."
"Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, The Guy that's Hard to Kill"
GiphyThe General Slocum
"The General Slocum disaster. It was a sidewheel ship carrying German-American families up the Hudson River for an annual church outing when it caught fire. Most people couldn't swim so the choice was either burn or drown for most. The life jackets were faulty and would make anyone wearing one sink like a rock. Mother's would throw their babies into the water with a life vest only to watch them dragged under immediately. The lifeboats were tied up tightly with wires and inaccessible. Over 1,000 people died, many of them children. Only around 300 people made it off that death trap with their lives."
"It was the deadliest disaster in New York City prior to 9/11 but most people have never heard of it. I recommend the book Ship Ablaze by Edward T. O'Donnell. It had me in tears."
Sideshow Babies
"That infant incubators were invented in the late Victorian Era, and the guy that invented them used them (and the babies) as a side show attraction so he didn't have to charge parents for the babies care."
"Basically, there was a doctor in Germany by the name of Dr. Martin A Couney, who's own daughter was born prematurely and kept alive and by keeping her in an oven. This gave him an idea, and over the years him and his associates (most notably the French obstetrician Dr. Pierre Budin) designed what would be the early versions of the infant incubators we see today. They needed babies to test them out and exhibit the new tech at the World Exposition in Berlin, but most hospitals refused to work with them, thinking it wouldn't work."
"Eventually they came to the Berlin Charity Hospital, who loaned them some premature babies, thinking that they were going to die anyway. The exhibit was successful and all 6 babies that had been loaned to Couney survived. After that, Couney hired more medical staff and wet nurses (as formula wasn't a thing yet) and took the exhibit on the road to the United States and to every exhibition he could, including the Worlds Fair."
"Eventually, he set up 2 more permanent locations at Coney Island, and charged admission to the public to see these very tiny babies in the new incubators. They cared for the babies for free, so admission paid for the staff and other expenses. Hospitals from all over started to send him babies, and he expanded and opened more locations in other states. His own daughter ran a location in Atlantic City. Through the late 30's and early 40's, more hospitals began to get their own incubators and over time, the side show premie baby attractions closed as the need for them decreased."
Sorry, Ladies
"In 1907, Congress passed a law stripping American women of their citizenship if they married a non-American man. Note that men weren't stripped of their citizenship if they married non-American women."
Black Wall Street
"Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK. It was the center of black wealth and finance and was burned out by whites. I believe it was bombed as well."
Not Fans Of Abstract Art
"During the Croatian War a small regiment of soldiers was tasked with blowing up an abstract monument in Kamensko. It was once the biggest abstract sculpture in the world. It held no strategic or cultural significance, and bear in mind that there was a huge disproportion between Croatian forces and Yugoslavian National Army."
"Tactically speaking, it was a waste of equipment and manpower as well as a massive risk. They just hated this monument that much."
Fictional Titanic
"That a book was published in 1898 about an ocean liner called the Titan that sank after striking an iceberg with almost all passengers dying due to there being a lack of lifeboats on board."
"14 years later, almost the exact thing happened in real life with the Titanic.
"Eerie coincidence at the least.""
Andrew Jacksons Parrot
"Andrew Jackson had a pet parrot whom he trained to spew obscenities."
"And the parrot got kicked out of the funeral because it wouldn't stop swearing."
Columbus Was Even Worse Than You Think
"Columbus was arrested for being a terrible governor."
"Following his first voyage, Columbus was appointed Viceroy and Governor of the Indies under the terms of the Capitulations of Santa Fe. In practice, this primarily entailed the administration of the colonies in the island of Hispaniola, whose capital was established in Santo Domingo."
"By the end of his third voyage, Columbus was physically and mentally exhausted, his body wracked by arthritis and his eyes by ophthalmia. In October 1499, he sent two ships to Spain, asking the Court of Spain to appoint a royal commissioner to help him govern."
"By this time, accusations of tyranny and incompetence on the part of Columbus had also reached the Court. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand responded by removing Columbus from power and replacing him with Francisco de Bobadilla, a member of the Order of Calatrava. Bobadilla, who ruled as governor from 1500 until his death in a storm in 1502, had also been tasked by the Court with investigating the accusations of brutality made against Columbus."
"Arriving in Santo Domingo while Columbus was away in the explorations of his third voyage, Bobadilla was immediately met with complaints about all three Columbus brothers: Christopher, Bartolomeo, and Diego. Bobadilla reported to Spain that Columbus regularly used torture and mutilation to govern Hispaniola."
"The 48-page report, found in 2006 in the national archive in the Spanish city of Simancas, contains testimonies from 23 people, including both enemies and supporters of Columbus, about the treatment of colonial subjects by Columbus and his brothers during his seven-year rule."
"According to the report, Columbus once punished a man found guilty of stealing corn by having his ears and nose cut off and then selling him into slavery. Testimony recorded in the report stated that Columbus congratulated his brother Bartolomeo on 'defending the family' when the latter ordered a woman paraded naked through the streets and then had her tongue cut out for suggesting that Columbus was of lowly birth."
"The document also describes how Columbus put down native unrest and revolt; he first ordered a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed and then paraded their dismembered bodies through the streets in an attempt to discourage further rebellion."
"'Columbus's government was characterised by a form of tyranny,' Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian who has seen the document, told journalists. 'Even those who loved him had to admit the atrocities that had taken place'."
"Because of their gross misgovernance, Columbus and his brothers were arrested and imprisoned upon their return to Spain from the third voyage. They lingered in jail for six weeks before King Ferdinand ordered their release."
"Not long after, the king and queen summoned the Columbus brothers to the Alhambra palace in Granada. There, the royal couple heard the brothers' pleas; restored their freedom and wealth; and, after much persuasion, agreed to fund Columbus's fourth voyage."
"But the door was firmly shut on Columbus' role as governor. Henceforth Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres was to be the new governor of the West Indies."
So, what would you add to this list?
Let us know in the comments!
