0 votes
by (1.7k points)

Iceland is one of the most isolated countries in the world. Situated just about smack-dab in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, its closest neighbor on the European mainland is Norway, 600 miles (966 kilometers) away. This extreme remoteness makes the Icelandic population one of the most genetically homogeneous in the world. In fact, every single native Icelander has a place on the very same family tree: They're all descendants of Jón Arason, the last Catholic bishop of Iceland, and his wife, Helga Sigurðardóttir. It stands to reason, then, that Icelanders are extremely interested in genealogy. Upon meeting someone for the first time, the standard greeting is "Hverra manna ert þú?" -- Who are your people? The answer might not be immediately apparent because Icelanders have a different surname tradition than most of the rest of the world. There are no family names -- people are named directly after their parents, usually the father.


Take Björk, for instance. The most famous Icelander's last name is Guðmundsdóttir because her father's name is Guðmundur. Guðmundur's sons would have the surname Guðmundsson. So, even in a place where everyone's related, it might not always be obvious exactly how someone is related to you. Awkward dating situations are inevitable in an island-bound population of 320,000 in which everyone shares a family tree. It's become a national obsession, a boon not only to single people on the prowl but also to the entire genealogy-obsessed populace. Fortunately for future Icelanders, the country has been extremely organized from the start, and the database was culled from meticulous records kept since 874. (Íslendingabók also has information on half of the population from 874 until 1703.) Anyone with an Icelandic ID number can log in for free, enter two names, and find out exactly how the two people are related. You can get names and birth dates for any of the 720,000 people in the database. Full genealogical information, including exact lines of descent, is available for anyone with whom you share a great-grandparent. Íslendingabók is obviously an invaluable resource for the country as a whole, but there's also a lot of interest in the other angle. In 2013, a group of engineering students came up with "Islendiga-App," ("App of Icelanders"). Otherwise known as the "Anti-Incest App," it taps the Íslendingabók database for a very practical use. Iceland Review. Feb. 8, 2007. (Sept. Gottleib, Jenna, and male masturbator Jill Lawless. Huffington Post. April 18, 2013. (Sept. Islendingabok. "English Summary." (Sept. Skoch, Iva R. "Iceland: Genealogy Database 'The Book of Icelanders' Tracks Lovers' Ancestry." Huffington Post, Dec. 26, 2011. (Sept.


IAC Inc. is an American holding company that owns brands across 100 countries, mostly in media and Internet. IAC was established in 1986 as Silver King Broadcasting Company, as part of a plan to increase viewership of the Home Shopping Network (HSN) by purchasing local television stations. By 1988, Silver King had bought 11 stations for about $220 million. In 1992, Silver King was spun off to HSN shareholders as a separately traded public company. In August 1995, Barry Diller acquired control of Silver King, in a deal backed by the company's largest shareholder, Liberty Media. Diller, who had led the creation of the Fox network, reportedly hoped to use Silver King's stations as the foundation for a new broadcast network. At the same time, the company acquired Savoy Pictures, a failed film studio that owned four Fox affiliate stations through SF Broadcasting, for $210 million in stock. In February 1998, it acquired the television assets of Universal Studios (including USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel, and Universal Television's domestic production and distribution arms) for $4.1 billion.


The company's name was changed to USA Networks, Inc. at this point. Continuing its acquisition strategy, the company acquired the Hotel Reservations Network in May 1999 for $149 million. USA Networks merged the online division of Ticketmaster with city guide website Citysearch in September 1998, establishing a new company that went public as Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch (TMCS). USA then sold Ticketmaster proper to TMCS in 2001, retaining a 61 percent share in the combined company, which became known as simply Ticketmaster. USA brought Ticketmaster back under full ownership in 2003, purchasing all outstanding shares. In the early 2000s, USA Networks began divesting itself of its traditional television broadcasting and https://solitarysales.fun production units. In May 2001, Univision Communications acquired USA Broadcasting (a division of USA Networks including 13 local stations). The next year, Vivendi bought the rest of USA's broadcast entertainment businesses, including the USA Network and Sci-Fi Channel. This led to the creation of a new company named Vivendi Universal Entertainment, led by Diller.  Th is a rticle was writt en ​by G​SA Con​te​nt G​en erator DE᠎MO​.

Your answer

Your name to display (optional):
Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.
Welcome to FluencyCheck, where you can ask language questions and receive answers from other members of the community.
...