So I never cared about history until I found out my ancestors played a big part in declaring independence form Great Britain and editing the King James Bible. We even helped witches escape during the Salem Witch Trials!!! One of my ancestors helped create and sign the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, made a bit over a year before the actual Declaration of Independence. My ancestors also made a huge effort to make baptism cool. But enough about me, what's YOUR family history?!
Ooh, my favorite topic!
My great-aunt was a genealogist in NYC, so she sent me my family tree a long while back and I've added all of the people onto an online family tree.
I've traced back to the 1400s, but my earliest NOTABLE ancestor is James Chilton, my 12th great-grandfather who was listed as the oldest man on the Mayflower. On a completely other side of the tree was Susannah Martin, my 10th great-grandmother and a woman hung during the Salem witch trials. I know Chester A. Arthur (former USA president!) was my distant cousin. Another notable member of my family was my 9th great-grandmother, Hannah Emerson Dustin/Duston (http://www.hannahduston.com/captive.htm). She was the first woman to have a commemorative statue created of her in the USA, and her story was used to justify the massive relocation of Natives during the 1800s (and though her story was used to justify evils, there was nothing evil about her particularly). I am also a direct descendant of William the Conqueror.
I know my ancestry primarily consists of English, Scottish, and Irish blood on my father's mother's side. Most of his ancestors were some of the first Europeans living in America, with many of them living in the Northeast in the 1600s and onwards. My father's father's side (aka where my surname comes from) is primarily French-Candian. My surname was anglicized from French in an attempt to assimilate into American society in the 1800s.
My mother was adopted so I know very little about my mother's father's side, but I know my mother's mother's side is primarily Scottish in descent.
I wish I knew more specifics, but all I know is that my mom's side of the family is descended from Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, who was king of the Franks and united most of Europe in the early Middle Ages.
Then in general, both sides of my family have been in North America for quite awhile (except for one set of great grandparents who recently immigrated from Austria), and I have some Native American blood in me. So there you go!
My dad is direct Irish, and my mums family came from Irish convicts. So I'm quite Irish with a bit of German, French, and English.