Junior Journalists Portal

Study finds Clinton related to Jolie and Obama to Pitt

Administrator — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:31:37 +0000

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The presidential candidates may have star qualities — and they also have stars in their families, according to a genealogical study linking Hillary Clinton to Angelina Jolie and Barack Obama to Brad Pitt.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston on Wednesday released a study in which it traced the family trees of all three presidential candidates to find they all had famous relatives, both dead and alive.

It found Illinois Senator Barack Obama, whose mother is from Kansas, can claim at least six U.S. presidents as distant cousins, including George W. Bush and his father, Gerald R. Ford, Lyndon B. Johnson, Harry S. Truman, and James Madison.

But other cousins include British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill — and Brad Pitt who is a ninth cousin linked back Edwin Hickman who died in Virginia in 1769.

"Obama’s maternal ancestry includes the mid-Atlantic States and the South," said Christopher Child, a genealogist with NEHGC that dates back to 1845 and describes itself as the United States oldest and largest non-profit genealogical organization.

Meanwhile his Democratic rival, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, shares a common ancestor with Pitt’s partner, actress Angelina Jolie. Clinton and Jolie are ninth cousins twice removed linked by Jean Cusson of St. Sulpice, Quebec, who died in 1718.

Child said Clinton is also a cousin of a number of famous people with French Canadian ancestry, including Madonna (ninth cousins linked by Pierre Gagne of Quebec who died in 1656) Celine Dion, and Alanis Morissette, as well as author Jack Kerouac. Another cousin is Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles.

"It is common to find people of French Canadian descent to be related to large numbers of other French Canadians, including these notables," said Child in a statement.

Republican nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, is a sixth cousin of Laura Bush but it was hard track other ancestors.

"McCain’s ancestry is almost entirely southern," said Child, adding this made notable connections harder to trace because of challenges to genealogists in that region.

Child said having famous cousins makes for interesting conversation but it "should not influence voters."

"But at a time when the race focuses on pointing out differences, the candidates may enjoy learning about famous cousins and their varied family histories," he said. Source: Reuters/Nielsen

Magazine names 7 wonders of Architechture

Administrator — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:18:15 +0000

NEW YORK - From the tall tower in Dubai to a contemporary art museum on New York’s Lower East Side, noteworthy architecture is springing up around the globe. Conde Nast Traveler’s April issue picks seven designs as the "new seven wonders of the architecture world." They are:

-Cumulus, an exhibit hall at Danfoss Universe, a science and technology museum in Nordborg, Denmark. The building has an irregular roof, all curves and angles, like a bite taken out of a cloud.

-Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, which is under construction in the Middle East and is already more than 1,700 feet tall. The final height is a secret but its developer, Emaar Properties, has previously said it will stop somewhere above 2,275 feet and will exceed 160 floors.

-London’s new Wembley Stadium, which seats 90,000 with no obstructed sight lines. A massive 436-foot-tall, 1,000-foot-long single arch braces the retractable roof. The stadium will be a centerpiece of the 2012 Olympics.

-New Museum of Contemporary Art, designed to resemble an off-kilter stack of silvery rectangles, located on the Bowery on Manhattan’s once-seedy, now-trendy Lower East Side.

-Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., a curved roof made from a patterned grid of glass and steel above shallow pools in the courtyard of the Old Patent Office Building, also known as the Reynolds Center and home to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

-Red Ribbon, Tanghe River Park, in Qinhuangdao, China, about 180 miles east of Beijing, a steel bench that runs a third of a mile through a riverbank garden and ecological oasis.

-The Crystal, a controversial new entryway and exhibit space at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum, whose sharp, even jagged angles have not been universally loved by the locals. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind. Source: Yahoo News ♥

Administrator — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:30:15 +0000

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