All hail John Grenham, professional genealogist, database creater, author and all-round good egg.

Following the removal of Dublin City Council's 'Heritage Databases' from the dublincity.ie platform, John has today uploaded his own back-up copies (he created them) of five of the most genealogically useful databases to his Irish Ancestors site.

They are:

These databases are now free to search and view at this page: https://www.johngrenham.com/dcla/.

This is a temporary step while DCC overcomes its compliance issues. See John's blogpost – Some of me oul' darlin' databases are back online – for more details.

As fire tore through downtown Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange in mid-April, many people in the Danish capital rushed toward the flames and emerged carrying paintings, sculptures, and other important items from Denmark's cultural heritage.

Seven weeks on and with about half the 17th-century building destroyed — including its iconic dragon-tail spire — Denmark's Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said that more than 90% of the building's cultural objects had been rescued from the fire.

''People from the fire brigade, employees, and volunteers just coming out of the streets were helping to save the artworks,'' Engel-Schmidt told The Associated Press in an interview. ''More than 350 artifacts and paintings were saved from the fire."

Engel-Schmidt said some items couldn't be saved, including a sculpture too heavy for rescuers to lift, and artworks painted directly on the building's walls. The sculpture was a copy of work by Danish neo-classicist artist Bertel Thovaldsen of King Christian IV who died in 1648. The monarch is credited for having had the Old Stock Exchange built.

The saved objects are now stored in a modern, air-conditioned National Museum warehouse in Vinge near Frederikssund, about 35 kilometers (22 miles), northwest of Copenhagen. The facility is surrounded by fences, moats, and thick concrete walls.

''Some of the 170 paintings are being restored right now,'' Engel-Schmidt said. ''Others are in a very good quality and will be on loan to different museums in the months to come so the public and the Danish people can enjoy them again.''

You can read more in an article by James Brooks published in the startribune.com web site at: http://bit.ly/3xcc9f2.

The following is a Ka Ipu Makani Cultural Heritage Center News Release:

Ka Ipu Makani Cultural Heritage Center’s Moaʻe Molokai Digital Repository is excited to announce the release of over 1,300 newspaper scans from the 1950s. Supported by a grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, these scans include 287 issues from the Ka Leo o Molokai and the Friendly Isle News.

Ka Leo o Molokai, printed in English, graced the island’s readers weekly from Dec. 8, 1950, to Nov. 11, 1955. Sponsored by the Molokai Chamber of Commerce and managed by the Molokai Civic Group Advisory Board, it operated under the guidance of Dorothy Tanner and Louise Borsella, with Marie Horner at the editorial helm. Though some debate its status as the island’s inaugural paper, its significance remains unquestionable.

Following in its footsteps, The Friendly Isle News took up the torch, also in weekly editions from Nov. 18, 1955, to Jan. 1957. Owned and edited by Marie Gallard, it continued the tradition of capturing the essence of Molokai life. Both publications provided vivid depictions of Molokai’s residents during this period, highlighting their roles in plantation work, the burgeoning local business scene, and the vibrant community activities. From church services to sports tournaments, and the evolving landscape of towns like Kaunakakai, Maunaloa, and Kualapuʻu, these newspapers served as invaluable chroniclers of the island’s history. Their preservation through digitization by Ka Ipu Makani for inclusion in the Moaʻe Molokai Digital Repository ensures that these snapshots of island life endure for future generations to explore and appreciate.

The scans are available on the Moaʻe Molokai Digital Repository website, moaemolokai.com. Community members are also encouraged to follow @kaipumakani on Instagram for sneak peeks and insights into the newspaper collection.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

Would you like to have your genealogy book or your society's newsletter available as an ebook publication? There is a huge reading audience that is taking advantage of the many convenient mobile reading devices on the market now. The popularity of these devices for reading books, newspapers, and magazines continues to explode. The reading public seems to love them, and the people who publish the ebooks definitely love the low cost of publishing this way. You could be one of those publishers. 

Of course, you can also continue to publish in whatever format you already use: DOC, DOCX, TXT, HTML, PDF, or even the old-fashioned way: printed on paper. You can use EPUB files as another publishing method, allowing your readers to choose the format they prefer.

Put into the right format, your genealogy book or your society's newsletter can easily be read on any of the many available ebook readers, including Kindle, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and many other ebook readers. The "secret" is to publish the document in EPUB format. With the tools described in this article, that is easy to do.

Millions of books are already available in EPUB format. Many of the books sold by Barnes and Noble, Sony, and other electronic publishers are available today in EPUB format. In addition, all the public domain books in both Google Books and in Archive.org are available in EPUB format among others. As readers of this newsletter know, both Google Books and Archive.org include thousands of books of interest to genealogists. 

EPUB is a free and open standard format created by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and is designed for “re-flowable” content that can be optimized to whatever device is being used to read a book file. Both publishers and individuals use EPUB for distribution and sale of electronic books. There are also conversion houses that create EPUB files as a service to their customers. In all cases, the resulting EPUB files have the extension .epub.

Of course, many of the same books are also available as PDF files and can be read with many handheld ebook readers. However, the text and pictures in PDF files often do not display well on the smaller screens. PDF files have fixed line length and page lengths, which may not fit well into the smaller screens of ebook readers. Reading a PDF file on a handheld device with a small screen often means the reader has to manually scroll left to right to read each line. Very few people will do that for very long.

In contrast, EPUB documents will display documents as "re-flowable" pages. That is, each line is word-wrapped appropriately for the size of the screen being used. EPUB documents usually do not require scrolling from side to side in order to read the text. 

EPUB books also can support DRM (digital rights management) to prevent unauthorized copying of the documents.

The remainder of this article is reserved for Plus Edition subscribers only. If you have a Plus Edition subscription, you may read the full article at: https://eogn.com/(*)-Plus-Edition-News-Articles/13367484. (A Plus Edition password is required to access that article.)

If you are not yet a Plus Edition subscriber, you can learn more about such subscriptions and even upgrade to a Plus Edition subscription immediately at https://eogn.com/page-18077. 

The following is an announcement written by the folks at Findmypast:

Trace your family's remarkable D-Day stories with this week's insightful new additions. 

As we commemorate #DDay80, we've enriched our World War 2 Allies Collection with over 566,000 additional records. This handpicked collection of detail-packed records is your go-to resource for wartime family history. 

Soldiers. Nurses. Home Front civilians. Your relatives. Discover how their pasts have shaped your present this Findmypast Friday. Plus, we've released two new Yorkshire collections.

World War 2 Allies Collection

Now enhanced with records released in the past three years, this huge collection features enlistments, casualty lists, rolls of honour and more.

British Army, Royal York Rangers

Was your ancestor in this unique regiment? 

Mostly made up of prisoners evading hanging, ironically, it was praised for good conduct and gallantry.

Yorkshire, Leeds City Police 1899-1939

Spanning 40 years, this colourful collection charts the lives and careers of those who kept law and order in Yorkshire's largest city.

276,000 new newspaper pages...

We've welcomed Hunts County News to our newspaper archive this week, alongside updates to 22 other publications.

D-Day as featured in the Illustrated London News, 1944.

Here's everything that's been added to the archive this Findmypast Friday.

New titles:

Updated titles:

Last week we added exciting new British naval records and so much more. Explore the full release for yourself here. 

Here is an article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, I will suggest that ALL computer owners should be aware of it.

The following announcement was written by Proton:

We’re excited to announce that Proton Pass has expanded its reach! With our new macOS app, Linux app, and Safari browser extension, you can now use Proton Pass on all major operating systems and browsers. Managing your passwords and other items has never been more convenient.

No matter which platform you use, Proton Pass ensures that your passwords sync effortlessly and are accessible whenever you need them. Your current subscription also supports offline mode on desktop apps.

You can also use Proton Pass to:

• Get notified if a third-party site leaks your data with Dark Web Monitoring
• Get alerted on your password vulnerabilities with Password Health
• Secure your email with unlimited hide-my-email aliases
• Generate and manage 2FA codes on Proton Pass

DownLoad Proton Pass

What’s next for Proton Pass?

• Unlock with biometrics
• Item sharing via secure links (even with people who don’t use Proton Pass!)
• Support for identities
• Extra password (a password to unlock Proton Pass, separate from your Proton Account password)

Thank you for your ongoing support of our mission. If you have questions or feedback, you can join the conversation on Reddit or X.

Stay secure,
The Proton Team

Comment by Dick Eastman:

I have long been a very satisfied of Proton’s products (VPN, Email, Cloud Storage, and Calendar). Proton’s primary business is creating high-security products that cannot be spied upon by hackers, corporate spies, government spies, and others who want to snoop on your online activities and use the information obtained for nefarious purposes.

When the company announced its latest product, Proton Pass(word manager), I immediately downloaded it on my Macintosh computer and started adding all my online passwords. While I have only used it for a few hours so far, I am impressed with the products’ ease of use. While I don’t have the tools to test its online security, the fact that it is a Proton product indicates to me that Proton Pass is as secure as Proton’s other products.

Well done Proton!

You can learn more about Proton’s high security products by starting at: https://proton.me.

The following is a press release released by the Choctaw Nation:

The Choctaw Nation launched a new website to honor and share information about Choctaw tribal members who are veterans of the United States Armed Forces. The Choctaw Veterans Archive can be found at veterans.choctawnation.com.

The site is a collection of stories and information for and about Choctaw veterans. It features sections for Choctaw Veteran Biographies, Veteran Resources, and Events and News for Veterans.

Choctaw veterans can provide their service information in the biographies section. Personal information, that of a family member or one deceased may be added.

The goal of the project is to honor Choctaw veterans by preserving their stories and making them accessible to the public. It will also better serve current veterans in need of information. The Choctaw Veterans Archive website is a free service.

In addition to the ability to upload your information directly through a site portal, Judy Allen, tribal historian is also recording interviews with Choctaw veterans for the website. For inquiries, contact Allen at judy.allen@choctawnation.com.

About The Choctaw Nation

The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest Indian Nation in the United States with more than 225,000 tribal members and 12,000-plus associates. This ancient people has an oral tradition dating back over 13,000 years. The first tribe over the Trail of Tears, its historic reservation boundaries are in the southeast corner of Oklahoma, covering 10,923 square miles. The Choctaw Nation’s vision, “Living out the Chahta Spirit of faith, family and culture,” is evident as it continues to focus on providing opportunities for growth and prosperity.

The following article appeared originally in the MyHeritage Blog:

In April and May 2024, we published 123 million historical records from 18 collections. The newly added records are from the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Italy, Luxembourg, and England, and include birth records, marriage and divorce records, death and burial records, census records, voter lists, school registers, and telephone directories. Many of the collections also include images.

Our major historical record releases this past month include 3 new and important historical record collections from New York: New York City birth, marriage, and death records. These robust collections are some of the most significant vital records in the U.S. available online today. You can read more about this release in our blog post. Additionally, we have added 11.6 million new Nordic newspaper pages to OldNews.com, the innovative website for historical newspapers by MyHeritage. Learn more about this exciting addition in our blog post. These records and newspapers offer unparalleled opportunities to explore and discover your family history.

Search them to discover a family treasure!

Here are more details about each of the collections added in April and May.

You can read the long, long list of newly added records in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://bit.ly/3XcY7El.

The MyHeritage Blog has a fascinating story about an internation friendship that originated in wartime and has lasted for 80 years afterwards. 

"Since the end of WWII, a beautiful and incredible friendship has connected the family of Sylvie Laillier, a French user from Normandy, and an American family from Pennsylvania that sent 3 sons to fight in the war. Two of them, Paul and William Stevens, did not return. The third, Donald Stevens, now 97 years old, cherishes this unwavering bond that unites them despite the years that pass and an ocean that separates them. For the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing on June 6, we are honored to tell you their story, which Sylvie’s cousin, Ludovic Adeline, has just published in a magnificent comic strip."

You can read much, much more at: https://bit.ly/4ebClXG

This a new, excellent method of searching the content of ebooks:

Combining e-publishing with the Internet makes sense given Google's indexing (and probably ranking) of EPUB content decision. The fact that it took eight years to accomplish should be the only unexpected element. The update mentions without further information that EPUB file format was included to Google's indexable file types on their documentation.

EPUB File Structured Format

Based on a standard created by the International Digital publication Forum, EPUB is an XML-based eBook publication format that was subsequently combined with the World Wide Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The merger aimed to unite electronic book publishing with the Internet so that they can enhance one another.

You can read more in an article by Roger Montti published in the searchenginejournal.com web site at: https://bit.ly/3x5QdSy.