Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Good news for all those who mourned the cancellation of the American version of Who Do You Think You Are?, the popular celebrity roots series that...

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

You know you've arrived when you've been mocked by Christopher Guest. Guest, who has a gift for putting peculiar subcultures under a microscope, has set his sights on genealogy with Family Tree, a series coming to HBO and BBC2 shortly.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Not long ago, I received a response to a letter I wrote to a stranger in Ireland -- in 1984. Making the experience more peculiar still is the fact that the gentleman I contacted had passed away in 1990. Perhaps I should explain.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

His forebears have held one of the more eclectic mélange of jobs I've seen, including taxi driver, fruit and vegetable peddler, furrier, shoe store proprietor, and window cleaner.

Alexander Sanger

Chair, International Planned Parenthood Council

One hundred years ago, a February day in 1913, two strangers stand alone in Gallery G of the International Exhibition of Modern Art at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Prince Rogers Nelson, better known as Prince, has the music world intrigued with the series of singles he's been releasing. I thought I'd take a peek into his pre-Minnesota, pre-purple, ancestral past. Here are a few of the discoveries I found scattered in the branches of his family tree:

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

As we mourn the passing of larger-than-life mayor, Ed Koch, who loved New York City so much that he spent $20,000 to ensure he would be buried there and never have to leave, it's worth remembering his immigrant father, Leib (later Louis) Koch.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

In the 10-15 years following Emancipation, there was some experimentation with surnames, so it's not unusual to find a family with one name in the 1870 census and an entirely different one in the 1880.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Under ideal circumstances, living relatives of both Williams and Bryan could provide DNA reference samples to compare against the remains to make the final assessment, but the obstacle is Williams' name.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

The USS Monitor remained at the bottom of the ocean until 10 years ago when recovery efforts succeeded in bringing the ship to the surface. Along with the vessel was a surprise -- a pair of skeletons in the turret. But which of the 16 were they?

Craig Kanalley

Senior Editor, Big News & Live Events, The Huffington Post

My last name is Irish and I've long been curious about my roots, particularly my Irish heritage, as I never knew my paternal grandfather. When my Dad found a great deal on a trip for one to Ireland, I felt it was tailor-made for me.

David J. Olson

Global development communications expert

Alsace is famous for its blend of France and Germany. The Alsatians consider themselves French but only up to a certain point. In the area of food, they pick what they like but do not accept everything French.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Were Bruno Mars to go on a world tour for the release of Unorthodox Jukebox, there would likely be unsuspecting cousins in the audiences in Madrid, New York, Kiev, San Juan, Manila and Budapest. So tell me: Which box do you think Bruno Mars ticked on the 2010 census?

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Though many don't realize it, "no man left behind" is much more than an expression. The U.S. military genuinely does all it can to recover soldiers from all conflicts, and for more than a decade, I've had the privilege of contributing to cases pertaining to WWI, WWII, Korea and Southeast Asia.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

In just the past week, we've been regaled with the supposedly startling revelations that: Halle Berry and Sarah Palin are cousins; Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are related; Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne, Ryan Gosling and Celine Dion are all cousins. My reaction to all this: Yawn.

Megan Smolenyak

Genealogy Expert, Author of "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" & "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Being of half-Irish heritage and having been born in France, Ireland and France are the most promising for me to become president of another country. Again for reasons of heritage, Slovakia is also a candidate.