I’m related in no particular order to (and no, i don’t know how many times removed. suffice it to say i’m no threat to my distant cousin’s ascent to the throne :p) the House of Windsor, Mary Queen of Scots, Louis XIV (aka the Sun King), Maclean Stevenson of MASH, ***and ***I have the extra-added frisson of finding out i had relatives burned at the stake in Salem. :rolleyes:
oh, and i’ve physically met frank sinatra, barry levinson (of tv writing team levinson and link), then-vice-presidental-hopeful dan quayle (interviewed him, actually), james garner (really, really tall and a lovely, pleasant man), kent mccord (equally pleasant, but the most plastic-looking man i’ve ever laid eyes on), and several indy 500 race car drivers including derek daly who was married to a coworker of mine.
My husband is a second cousin, once (maybe twice) removed, of Cary Grant.
I recently found out that one of my cousins went through astronaut training in the late 60s. He got as far as piloting one of those planes that gets into zero-gravity, but he knew all the famous astronauts like Shepard, Glenn and Armstrong.
Add that to the fact that my mother met one of the Wright Brothers. I might have some “circular” degrees going through my mother and coming back to me through my cousin.
I think somewhere in there, you might be related to Brook Shields.
Nobody was burned in Salem. One was pressed to death (More weight!), and the others were hung.
Granma’s side just barely missed being accused, ourselves. We left town with a three month old. That’s a hurry.
which is it? the witches or the windsors??
hmm. my family papers claim otherwise. can you cite for me? this bears research… 
The answer to that is all research. It didn’t happen in Salem and nobody claims that it did. Salem, MA is a cool place with museums and lots of alternative types but no witch burnings in sight. They did burn some witches at the stake in Europe but not in Massachusetts.
It was a really small event that is unusually famous for the number of people involved but still really cool. It isn’t hard to look this stuff up online. I have been there myself many times but it is extremely well documented and there are history TV shows on it and everything.
A call for a cite of this type falls into the common knowledge category and you need to look it up yourself if you are interested. It is incredibly easy because so much has been done on it. Here is one archive but there are documentaries online as well.
Victims and means of death:
Research
Thanks, Shagnasty. I will look into that, as well have have a word with my aunt, from whom the original source of info comes from…
Having formerly worked for a prominent Hollywood funeral home, a few notable people have taken their last ride with me, including Steve Allen, Doug McClure, Don Steele, Juliette Prowse and Pat Brown.
Among the living, I’ve met Dick Van Patten, Ed Asner, Jerry Brown, Kathy Bates, peed next to Steve Garvey at a movie theater, and used to see Goose Gossage at the supermarket in San Diego when he played for the Padres.
I also had a friend who worked as a towel boy for the Chargers, and was later a bat boy for the Padres, so I’m two degrees away from just about anyone who played in the NFL and the NL in the early to mid eighties.