Are you related to anyone famous?

[tetedur]

16. I entered a few relatives in my family tree in Wikitree and found out I was a 34 generation great-grandchild of

Charlemagne. At first I was impressed. The information was there I didn't have to research back to the 800's myself. It also pointed to other connections of other people of note like Louis XIV, Charles III etc. Those royals are all related to each other!

Then I Googled how many people are direct descendants of Charlemagne? It said everyone in Europe could possibly trace some connection to Charlemagne but there was no way to know how many direct descendants there are. Thanks AI! Safe to say there are probably thousands upon thousands of such people.

One set of connections that I found interesting was a list of about 24 Surety Barons that were 1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins 25+ times removed. I had to look up what that was about and had a little history lesson on the Magna Carta. What those guys did in 1215 planted the seeds of democracy. It was a step towards taking the power away from the king, undoing the feudal system and giving people more freedom. By the time people in America were ready to overthrow the yoke of the king, the ideas of democracy were based on that document.

Finding these connections makes history personal not that it makes me feel special. Each one of us is a strand on the web of life. What we do today will reverberate into the future. How will your children's children be living tomorrow because of what you do today to make life better?