Weird ancestors is Create's April theme.

Do you have ancestors on your wall, or their skeletons in your closet? Answer these questions about famous people with odd ancestors.

1. You'd think US presidents would be more varied, but no. Two father-and-son sets have been president, and one pair of distant cousins. Give the three names of these office hogs.
2. Another US president, Jimmy Carter, shares an ancestor with a king. What celebrity is Jimmy distantly related to through an obscure German immigrant?
3. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch has some embarrassing ancestors. How did they make their money?
4. Cherie Blair is a distant cousin of an infamous US actor from the 19th Century. What did this relative do that might make her husband a bit nervous?
5. Actor George Clooney shares an ancestor with an iconic figure from US history: maybe he should have played him rather than Daniel Day-Lewis. Who was Clooney's half-first cousin five times removed?
6. For an unconscionably long time, the Commonwealth (state) of Virginia had laws defining the 'race' of its citizens. What special law would exempt extremely prominent people – such as former US president George W Bush – from being labeled 'not white'?
7. Bing Crosby, a famous Catholic, had a famous Puritan ancestor. The first religious leader in Plymouth Colony, William Brewster, had four children. Their names were Patience, Fear, Love, and what?
   
   • Hope
   • Bing
   • Wrestling
   • Faith
8. Alan Shepard was the first American in space. But an ancestor of his made 'first contact'. With whom?
9. The Baldwin Brothers, actors, had an ancestor aboard the Mayflower. (He was an indentured servant.) What remarkably embarrassing thing did John Howland do on the voyage to New England?
10. Businessman and sometime TV personality Donald Trump is running for US president. What was his father's unusual middle name?

Curious to find out the answers? Click on the picture below to reveal the damaging details.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

04.04.16 Front Page

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