One of the fantastic family history activities listed on the Youth Page of The Family History Guide Family Activities section (Documenting the Past: Y4-03) is to
create a timeline using Twile. This site is an interactive, cloud-based service in which you can create a timeline of your family’s past, present, and future. Made up of photos and milestones (such as births, marriages, deaths, and any other event you would like to add), it tells the story of your family from your earliest known ancestor right through to today. Twile has integrated with FamilySearch to make importing a “one button” snap! Add more recent events from your own life, and then invite your family to explore and contribute. There is no end to the fun of personalizing your timeline! See more in this blog post.
To add to the fun (and functionality) of a timeline, a new tool (described in this FamilySearch blog post) is now available. This service personalizes dates in your family history for you. The Calendar of Ancestral Moments provides a list of important events that happened in your family history on particular calendar dates including your direct ancestor’s births, marriages, and deaths throughout the year. You can also opt to receive a Facebook message of the event along with information about your ancestor.
Leslie Albrecht Huber writes that to get started, “simply visit familysearch.org/campaign/calendar, and log in to your FamilySearch Account.” When your ancestor calendar appears, you will see that it begins with January. She gives the following example:
Quick links on the calendar help me learn more about my ancestors. If I click View Relationship, I am shown the direct link from me back to my grandmother. If I click her name, I see a summary of her basic vital information, such as birth and death dates and places, sources, and memories that are attached to her. If I click the Tree or Person icons at the bottom of the box, I am able to see even more information.
Mat Trotter (GeneologyTrot) received a message that it was his grandfather’s 105th birthday, so he posted the information from the message (along with a picture of him) to his Bartholomew Family History page on Facebook. He asked for family members to post pictures or stories about him on his birthday on his Facebook group timeline and got twelve responses. He then uploaded the stories to his memories page on FamilySearch.
I am excited to begin posting about my ancestor’s life events to connect with family members so we can remember them and celebrate together. It was so easy to set up my calendar, and so amazing to be reminded that my great-grandfather, Thomas Rees, had a birthday this very week! I like that the Facebook reminder 
message also includes the option to get more information about an ancestor, and a link to his or her profile on FamilySearch. Update: I just received another Facebook reminder!
“Today is your 2nd great grandfather, Brigham Rees, birthday!
He would have been 167 years old.” I love knowing this, and I can celebrate this event!
To get your reminders, just follow the prompt to “Get Updates on Facebook.” 
Once you’ve clicked it, you will receive messages through Facebook Messenger reminding you of important dates on your family tree.
Leslie Albrecht Huber includes in her blog post these ideas to use the information:
- When you get a Facebook message about an ancestor, take a moment to learn more about that ancestor. See if any records or stories are attached. Share something that you learn with your family.
- Glance over your entire calendar to see if any ancestors share important dates with your family now. Perhaps your ancestors married on your anniversary or share a birthday with one of your children. Point these out to your family members to build connections.
- For families with small children, choose an ancestor of the month—perhaps someone who has a birthday that month. You could have a party for him or her that includes singing “Happy Birthday,” eating a treat, and sharing a story about his or her life.
She concludes: “Now that you’ve discovered this new way to connect with your family, don’t keep it a secret. Share the Calendar of Ancestral Moments with your friends and family, and encourage them to give it a try.”
Here are a few links to more celebration ideas of ancestor’s life events:
I would love to hear about your ancestor celebrations!
