The ancestors
27 real people, 48 BC to 1961. Each one is a single documented moment: a model gets the name, the date, the place and the moment, and nothing else. Everything after that is its own research.
- royal palace, Alexandria · autumn 48 BC
Cleopatra
The last queen of ancient EgyptReaching Julius Caesar inside the palace.
About 74 generations backDrawn from a marble head made in her lifetime, mid-1st century BC, Altes Museum, BerlinWatch and vote on Cleopatra - Kensington Palace, London · 20 June 1837
Queen VictoriaPrincess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent
Became queen at 18 and reigned for 63 yearsBeing woken before dawn by her mother.
About 7 generations backDrawn from Alfred Edward Chalon's portrait of her as queen, c. 1837Watch and vote on Queen Victoria - Baltimore, Maryland · 23 February 1861
Abraham Lincoln
President who led the Union through the Civil WarAboard a night train through Baltimore, before dawn.
About 6 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Christopher S. German, 9 February 1861Watch and vote on Abraham Lincoln - RMS Titanic, North Atlantic · 15 April 1912
Lawrence Beesley
Science teacher who survived the Titanic and wrote about itThe lowering of lifeboat 13 from the Titanic.
About 4 generations backDrawn from a photograph in the Titanic's gymnasium, April 1912Watch and vote on Lawrence Beesley - near Engels, Saratov Oblast · 12 April 1961
Yuri Gagarin
The first person to travel into spaceJust after landing at the end of the first human spaceflight.
About 2 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Arto Jousi, July 1961Watch and vote on Yuri Gagarin - Here · today
You
Watching our ancestorsThe day you first wondered which side of the screen you’re on.
0 generations backNo likeness on file yet
Browse all 27 ancestors
1900s
- near Engels, Saratov Oblast · 12 April 1961
Yuri Gagarin
The first person to travel into spaceJust after landing at the end of the first human spaceflight.
About 2 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Arto Jousi, July 1961Watch and vote on Yuri Gagarin - Amsterdam, Netherlands · 12 June 1942
Anne Frank
Diarist of her family's hiding from the Nazis in AmsterdamThe morning of her thirteenth birthday, at home.
About 3 generations backDrawn from a school photograph, December 1941Watch and vote on Anne Frank - London · 10 May 1940
Winston Churchill
Britain's prime minister in the Second World WarAn evening summons to Buckingham Palace, and the night after.
About 3 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Cecil Beaton, 1940Watch and vote on Winston Churchill - Wheeler Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii · 11 January 1935
Amelia Earhart
Aviator, the first woman to fly solo across the AtlanticTaking off from Wheeler Field.
About 3 generations backDrawn from the frontispiece of her book The Fun of It, 1932Watch and vote on Amelia Earhart - Valley of the Kings, Egypt · 26 November 1922
Howard Carter
Archaeologist who found the tomb of TutankhamunThe first look into the tomb of Tutankhamun.
About 4 generations backDrawn from a portrait by his brother William Carter, 1924Watch and vote on Howard Carter - Berlin · 1919, late September
Albert Einstein
Physicist behind the theory of relativityReceiving news of the eclipse measurements.
About 4 generations backDrawn from a photograph, c. 1920Watch and vote on Albert Einstein - Stromness, South Georgia · 20 May 1916
Ernest Shackleton
Explorer who got every man of the Endurance home aliveArriving at Stromness whaling station.
About 4 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Frank Hurley, 1916Watch and vote on Ernest Shackleton - RMS Titanic, North Atlantic · 15 April 1912
Lawrence Beesley
Science teacher who survived the Titanic and wrote about itThe lowering of lifeboat 13 from the Titanic.
About 4 generations backDrawn from a photograph in the Titanic's gymnasium, April 1912Watch and vote on Lawrence Beesley - Paris, rue Lhomond · c. 1902, an evening
Marie CurieMaria Skłodowska-Curie
Discoverer of radium and the first woman to win a Nobel PrizeGoing back to the laboratory one evening with Pierre.
About 4 generations backDrawn from her Nobel Prize portrait, 1903Watch and vote on Marie Curie
1800s
- Pietermaritzburg, Natal · 7 June 1893
Mohandas GandhiMohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Leader of India's nonviolent independence movementA night at Maritzburg railway station on the way to Pretoria.
About 5 generations backDrawn from a photograph, 1895Watch and vote on Mohandas Gandhi - hills above Oakland, California · 1871
Henry George
Economist who called for a single tax on land valuesRiding in the hills above the bay.
About 6 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Isaiah West Taber, c. 1880, about 9 years after this momentWatch and vote on Henry George - Combahee River, South Carolina · 2 June 1863
Harriet Tubman
Underground Railroad conductor who led a Civil War raidThe Combahee River raid.
About 6 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Benjamin F. Powelson, 1868–69Watch and vote on Harriet Tubman - Charleston Harbor, South Carolina · 13 May 1862
Robert Smalls
Seized a Confederate ship to escape slavery; later a congressmanPassing Fort Sumter during the escape aboard the Planter.
About 6 generations backDrawn from a photograph from the Brady-Handy studio, c. 1870–80Watch and vote on Robert Smalls - Baltimore, Maryland · 23 February 1861
Abraham Lincoln
President who led the Union through the Civil WarAboard a night train through Baltimore, before dawn.
About 6 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Christopher S. German, 9 February 1861Watch and vote on Abraham Lincoln - Abeokuta, Egba country (Yorubaland) · 21 August 1846
Samuel Ajayi Crowther
Freed from a slave ship, later the first African Anglican bishopThe day his mother found him, 25 years after they were parted.
About 6 generations backDrawn from a photograph by Ernest Edwards, c. 1864, about 18 years after this momentWatch and vote on Samuel Ajayi Crowther - Torishima, Izu Islands · 27 June 1841
Nakahama ManjirōManjirō of Naka-no-hama, Tosa
Castaway, one of the first Japanese people to live in AmericaOn the rocks of Torishima, sighting a ship.
About 7 generations backDrawn from a photograph, c. 1880, about 40 years after this momentWatch and vote on Nakahama Manjirō - Zhenkou beach, Humen (the Bocca Tigris), Guangdong · 3 June 1839
Lin ZexuLin Tse-hsü, Imperial Commissioner
Qing official who destroyed 1,000 tons of British opiumThe first day of destroying the surrendered opium.
About 7 generations backAs pictured in a 19th-century oil portrait, Opium War Museum, HumenWatch and vote on Lin Zexu - Kensington Palace, London · 20 June 1837
Queen VictoriaPrincess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent
Became queen at 18 and reigned for 63 yearsBeing woken before dawn by her mother.
About 7 generations backDrawn from Alfred Edward Chalon's portrait of her as queen, c. 1837Watch and vote on Queen Victoria - Vienna · 7 May 1824
Ludwig van Beethoven
Composer who wrote the Ninth Symphony while deafThe end of the first performance of his Ninth Symphony.
About 7 generations backDrawn from Joseph Karl Stieler's portrait, 1820Watch and vote on Ludwig van Beethoven
1600s and 1700s
- McConkey's Ferry, Bucks County, Pennsylvania · 25 December 1776
George Washington
Commander of the Continental Army and first US presidentTaking his army across the Delaware on Christmas night.
About 9 generations backDrawn from Charles Willson Peale's portrait, 1776Watch and vote on George Washington - Kensington, near London · 15 April 1726
Isaac Newton
Physicist who set out the laws of motion and gravityA day spent with William Stukeley at his Kensington lodgings.
About 11 generations backDrawn from John Vanderbank's portrait, 1725–26Watch and vote on Isaac Newton - viceregal palace, Mexico City, New Spain · c. 1667 (exact year unrecorded)
Sor Juana Inés de la CruzJuana Inés de Asbaje
Nun, poet and scholar, called the Tenth Muse of MexicoBeing examined by the learned men of the viceroy's court.
About 13 generations backAs pictured by Juan de Miranda, c. 1713, after her deathWatch and vote on Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - London · 4 September 1666
Samuel Pepys
Diarist whose journal records the Great Fire of LondonSaving what he can as the Great Fire nears the Navy Office.
About 13 generations backDrawn from John Hayls's portrait, 1666Watch and vote on Samuel Pepys
1000 to 1599
- Tenochtitlan, where the causeway from Iztapalapa enters the city · 8 November 1519
Moctezuma IIMoctezuma Xocoyotzin, huey tlatoani of Tenochtitlan
Aztec ruler who welcomed Cortés into TenochtitlanGoing out to meet the strangers led by Hernán Cortés.
About 18 generations backAs pictured in the Tovar Codex, c. 1585, about 65 years after his deathWatch and vote on Moctezuma II - Rome · 26 June 1496
MichelangeloMichelangelo Buonarroti
Sculptor of David and painter of the Sistine Chapel ceilingA Sunday with Cardinal Riario, the day after arriving in Rome.
About 19 generations backDrawn from a portrait attributed to Daniele da Volterra, c. 1545, about 50 years after this momentWatch and vote on Michelangelo - Cairo · 1324, July
Mansa MusaMusa I of Mali
Emperor of Mali, often called the richest person in historyThe audience with the Sultan of Egypt during his pilgrimage.
About 25 generations backAs pictured in the Catalan Atlas, 1375, about 38 years after his deathWatch and vote on Mansa Musa
Before 1000
- royal palace, Alexandria · autumn 48 BC
Cleopatra
The last queen of ancient EgyptReaching Julius Caesar inside the palace.
About 74 generations backDrawn from a marble head made in her lifetime, mid-1st century BC, Altes Museum, BerlinWatch and vote on Cleopatra
No one matches yet. The tree grows with every release.
How it works
In 2003 the philosopher Nick Bostrom imagined that a future civilization might run detailed simulations of its ancestors, for research and for entertainment. We are starting small, with words.
A real person
Every simulation centers on one specific individual with a paper trail: records, letters, censuses, court files. Never a composite, and never someone who died less than fifty years ago.
Their eyes only
Models write in the first person, limited to what that person could perceive and know. No hindsight, no borrowed words from a later century.
Show your sources
Alongside the story, the model lists its claims and marks each one as attested, inferred or invented, the way a historian's footnotes do.
Graded twice
Once for truth, once for delight. The two scores are never merged, so you can see a model that is right but dull, or gripping but wrong.