Major genealogy software releases and news by year. Note: This is very much a work-in-progress as events are expanded upon, additional information is added, and dates are clarified. If you have any suggestions, please contact us! Some dates will be slightly off when only the year is known.
As of October 21, 2024, it is skewed towards certain services and software that are more well-known than others but this will change as more data is added. Some choices for the timeline maybe odd, but are related to companies that owned various genealogy programs or provided services for them.
Note: I am considering changing this to a sortable/searchable table.
Last Updated: December 8, 2024
| Year | Event / News | |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | The Family History Department of the LDS’s Genealogical Society put into service a comprehensive computer system designed to automate the submission of names for temple ordinance work. “Introduced to the public as the Names Tabulation Program, it was known within the Department as GIANT. It combined the names extracted from genealogical sources under the Records Tabulation Program (R-TAB) with the names from manual method of patron name submission. All names went into one computer system, programmed to detect duplicates and confirm unique entries. It served as the primary names-processing system for the next twenty years.” (BYU Studies v3, Number 2, 1994) | |
| 1979-Sept | John J. Armstrong publishes Genealogy: Compiling Roots and Branches, in the September issue of Personal Computing Magazine. The program sold for $250, and the source code was listed in the magazine. Post with photos of the original article: Throwback Thursday: The First Genealogy Software | |
| 1980 | COMMSOFT founded, would later create genealogy programs. | |
| 1980 |  | ROOTS89, a genealogy program for the Heath Disk Operating System, started development by Herb Drake / COMMSOFT |
| 1981-July |  | Genealogical Computing Magazine first published by Paul Andereck |
| 1981-April | | ROOTS89 demonstrated and released at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco |
| 1981 | ROOTS/M released for CP/M systems. | |
| 1983 | Fox Research (original developers of FoxBASE and later FoxPro) was founded | |
| 1983 | Ancestry Publishing (aka Ancestry, Inc. later Ancestry.com) founded by John Sittner, publishing printed genealogy data, along with 40+ family history books and magazine titles. | |
| 1983 |  | AnArkiv (Swedish) released for Commodore 64, DOS (Windows version in 1992) |
| 1983 |  | Personal Ancestral File 1.0 (PAF) Released for IBM PC. Written in BASIC |
| 1984 |  | Leister Productions, Inc. founded by Frank Leiser (produced Reunion) |
| 1984 | Banner Blue Software founded | |
| 1984 | 1st Edition of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, published by Ancestry, Inc. | |
| 1984-May |  | Roots II released by Commsoft, introduced at the 1984 National Genealogical Society Conference in San Francisco. |
| 1984 |  | GEDCOM 1.0 proposed. |
| 1984 | Paul Andereck proposed the concept of a Tiny Tale in Genealogical Computing Magazine. | |
| 1984-Dec | FoxBASE’s first version was released. FoxBASE was a programming language/Database Management System (DBMS) that would form the basis of later databases (FoxPro) and of many early genealogy programs and its influence/platform would last through the 2010s | |
| 1985-Dec | | GEDCOM 2.0 standard released. |
| 1986 | | Personal Ancestral File 2.0 (PAF 2.0) Released for DOS, Apple II, CP/M, 1st with GEDCOM (2.0) support. |
| 1986 |  | Jenny II: The Genealogist released for the Commodore 64/128. |
| 1986-Oct-14 |  | The FormalWare Co. founded, later FormalSoft, and then RootsMagic, Inc. |
| 1987-Feb | | GEDCOM 2.1 Standard (matched PAF 2.1) |
| 1987 |  | Pedigree released for DOS |
| 1987 | Folio Corporation founded to publish books and genealogy data on CD-ROM). Founded by Curt Allen and Brad Pello (Paul Allen’s brother and Paul and Curt’s brother-in-law), see Infobases in 1990) | |
| 1987-June | National Genealogical Conference (NGC) of bulletin board systems (BBS) was founded to run the Tafel Matching System (TMS) on a BBS. | |
| 1987-Oct-09 | | GEDCOM 3.0 Standard, lineage-linked forms |
| 1988 |  | Andata (Swedish) released for DOS |
| 1988 |  | Brother’s Keeper 1.0 released for DOS |
| 1988 | | Reunion released for Apple Macs running HyperCard |
| 1988 | PERsi published (Periodical Source Index) | |
| 1988 | | ROOTS III Announced/introduced at the NGS Conference in Biloxi, Mississippi, it was the last genealogy program written by Herb Drake (Howard Nurse took over). |
| 1989 |  | Family Tree Maker 1.0 for DOS Released (Banner Blue Software) |
| 1989-Aug-4 | | GEDCOM 4.0 Standard |
| 1990 |  | LifeLines 1.0 initially created (privately) |
| 1990 | Infobases founded by two BYU grads (Paul Allen, not Microsoft Paul Allen but this Paul Allen and Dan Taggart), offering LDS publications on floppy disks to help members research ancestors. It used Folio Views (Folio Corporation) as the Infobase indexing and presentation technology (Wikipedia.org link). Infobase would later be bought by LEXIS-NEXIS parent company. | |
| 1991 |  | The Master Genealogist released. |
| 1991 |  | Cumberland Family Tree released for DOS |
| 1991-Sep-25 | | GEDCOM 5.0 lineage-linked structures |
| 1991 | AncestraLink Genealogy Software released by FormalSoft (later RootsMagic) | |
| 1992-March | COMMSOFT granted a patent for a ROOTS III process to automatically manage footnote references in printed reports. | |
| 1992 | Family Origins released, developed by FormalSoft, published by Parsons Technology. | |
| 1992 | | LifeLines 2.0 Released – First Public Release of LifeLines, Cross-Platform |
| 1992-Sep-18 | | GEDCOM 5.1 drafted |
| 1993 |  | The Master Genealogist v1 – First official release (DOS) |
| 1993 | GenBox appeared as a DOS-based chart-printing utility, developed by William T. Flight, President of Thoughtful Creations | |
| 1993 |  | HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) invented/released (the web as we know it!) |
| 1993 |  | Kith and Kin/Of That Ilk – First release for Windows 3.1 |
| 1993-Oct | | ROOTS IV released, based on an event model. Demonstrated at the National Genealogical Society Conference in June, 1994. |
| 1993-Nov-04 | | GEDCOM 5.3 drafted, Unicode, multimedia, schema (abandoned) |
| 1994 |  | Ancestral Quest released for Windows 3.x |
| 1994 | Infobases named to Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest-growing companies. | |
| 1994 |  | Heredis, a Windows and Mac genealogy program was released. |
| 1994-Sep-30 | | Personal Ancestral File 2.31 (PAF 2.31) released for DOS and Macintosh- last version for Macintosh (OS 8.5 – IS 9.2.2) |
| 1994-Oct | Event GEDCOM 1.0 released by COMMSOFT, allows lineage- and event-linked genealogy programs to communicate with one another. | |
| 1994-Oct-12 | | LifeLines 3.0 Released – Cross-Platform (Linux/Windows/Mac) |
| 1994 | Banner Blue Software purchased Automated Archives and gets into the genealogical data CD business alongside its Family Tree Maker business. | |
| 1995-May | | Broderbund Software purchases Banner Blue Software (Family Tree Maker, Automated Archives) |
| 1995 |  | Progeny Software (later Progeny Genealogy Inc.) Founded by Pierre Clouthier and Robert P. “Bob” Thomas in Nova Scotia, Canada. Focuses on genealogy charting software. |
| 1995-Aug | Visual ROOTS released by COMMSOFT for Windows | |
| 1995-Aug-21 | | GEDCOM 5.4 draft, citation-source-repository model |
| 1995-Dec-11 | | GEDCOM 5.5 standard released, structured addresses |
| 1996-Jan-02 | | GEDCOM 5.5 with errata standard released, errata sheet on Jan 10. |
| 1996 | A little genealogical index on the internet, Cyndi’s List, is started. | |
| 1996-May | Infobases, Inc. invested in Ancestry, became its managing shareholder. | |
| 1996 | Ancestry.com launched (as we know it) by Paul Allen and Dan Taggart. | |
| 1996 | RootsWeb was founded. | |
| 1996 |  | LifeLog Corporation founded by Alden Gray to develop Genelines. |
| 1996-Nov-11 |  | Personal Ancestral File Companion (PAF Companion) Released. Later replaced by/became Charting Companion. |
| 1996-Dec | ROOTS V, released by COMMSOFT | |
| 1997-Jan-01 | Western Standard Publishing (Infobases’ parent company) purchased Ancestry, Inc. | |
| 1997-March | Folio Corporation sold to Open Market. | |
| 1997-May | COMMSOFT sold Roots genealogy software line to Palladium, and ROOTS V became Ultimate Family Tree. Ultimately sold to Genealogy.com, LLC | |
| 1997-May | | Personal Ancestral File 3.0 (PAF 3.0) released for DOS, first PAF to support GEDCOM 5.5 |
| 1997-May | Broderbund Software acquires Parson Technology from Inuit (included marketing rights to Family Origins) | |
| 1997 |  | Legacy Family Tree 1.0 released for Windows |
| 1997-July | Infobases’ Paul Allen and Dan Taggart purchased Western Standard’s interest in Ancestry, Inc. and began running it separately or independently from Infobases, and focusing it on online subscription-based genealogy services. | |
| 1997-July/Aug | Ancestry magazine showed Ancestry, Inc. as publisher, with Ancestry.com as its website. | |
| 1997 | PBS’s Ancestors airs on public television in the US. One of the first widespread genealogical-related TV shows seen in the US (arguably the series Roots started it all) | |
| 1998 |  | GenoPro released for Windows |
| 1998-April | The Learning Company, Inc. (subsidiary Mindscape) purchased the “Family Heritage” software line from IMSI (International Microcomputer Software, Inc.) | |
| 1998 |  | GEDitCOM 1.0 Released for Mac |
| 1998-August | | The Learning Company purchases Broderbund (Family Tree Maker)(Family Tree Creator by way of Mindscape/IMSI) |
| 1998-Aug-10 |  | MacStammBaum / MacFamilyTree released by OnlyMac Software (later Synium Software) for 68k Macs (1.6 would see PowerMac support) |
| 1998-Dec-01 | The Learning Company acquires Palladium Interactive, owner of Ultimate Family Tree (UFT) genealogy software, and now owns UFT, FTM and Family Tree Creator | |
| 1998-Dec | MyFamily.com website launched, one million registered users within 140 days. | |
| 1998-Dec-11 | | Genelines – Genealogy Charting Software for Windows 95/98/NT, Works with PAF 3.0, Family Tree Maker 4.x, and Family Tree Maker 5.0 |
| 1999 |  | HuMo-genealogy, an online genealogy platform, first released. |
| 1999-March | MyFamily.com free websites launched. | |
| 1999-April | Infobases appears to have sold off most non-Ancestry.com and non-MyFamily.com interests to Deseret Book. | |
| 1999-May | Mattel, Inc. (the toy company) purchases The Learning Company. | |
| 1999-Jun-28 | | Personal Ancestral File 4.0 (PAF 4.0) Released, based upon Ancestral Quest 3.0, supported GEDCOM 5.5, first Windows version of PAF |
| 1999-Oct-02 | | GEDCOM 5.5.1 standard released, UTF-8, email, URLs, geographic coordinates |
| 1999-Nov | Genealogy.com, LLC, based upon the Broderbund and Palladium genealogy software acquisitions, is founded by Mattel, Inc. with Thomas H. Lee Partners, Weston Presidio Capital, A&E Television Networks and Hearst Interactive Media | |
| 1999-Nov-17 | Ancestry.com, Inc. changes name to MyFamily.com, Inc. Websites include: Ancestry.com, MyFamily.com, FamilyHistory.com | |
| 1999 | DoroTree, a Jewish/Hebrew-oriented genealogy program launched. | |
| 2000-June | RootsWeb aqruied by Ancestry.com, Inc. | |
| 2000-Nov | | Personal Ancestral File 5.0 (PAF 5.0) released – first Unicode version |
| 2000-Dec-18 | | GEDCOM 5.5.2 unpublished draft, GEDXML |
| 2001-Apr-21 |  | GRAMPS, the open-source, cross-platform (Linux, Mac, Windows) genealogy app is launched by Don Allingham (link) |
| 2001 |  | The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding 1.0 Released, TNG is an online genealogy platform. |
| 2002 – July 23 | | Personal Ancestral File 5.2.18.0 (PAF 5.2.18.0) released (last update to PAF) |
| 2001 |  | Ahnenblatt first released. |
| 2001-Feb-01 | | A&E Television Network (formerly an investor in Genealogy.com) acquired Genealogy.com, the producer of Family Tree Maker. This was the sixth administrative transfer of the company since the early 1980s. (Source: Genealogical Computing, Spring 2001) |
| 2001 | Genealogy.com acquires GenForum message board site (Genealogy.com had hosted it for a few years). | |
| 2002 |  | Family Historian first released (Windows) |
| 2002-June | Genealogy.com acquired Generations Family Tree genealogy software line from Sierra Home (it would own Family Tree Maker, Generations, Ultimate Family Tree, Family Tree Creator, and possibly marketing rights to Family Origins). Generations Family Tree Version 8.5a released to retail channels on June 6, 2002), based on Leister Pro’ s Reunion for Windows (compatible with Reunion 5? and Generations 5.x). PhpGedView (online genealogy program) released by John Finlay. | |
| 2003-April | A&E sold Genealogy.com assets to MyFamily.com, Inc. | |
| 2003-June |  | webtrees, a fork of phpGedView, first released. |
| 2005-Sep | Heritage Makers acquired by MyFamily.com. | |
| 2007-Mar | Visual FoxPro discontinued by Microsoft. This hurt quite a few genealogy programs that had been using FoxPro as their database system. | |
| 2009-June-7 |  | GEDitCOM II 1.0 released for Mac OS X |
| 2009-Nov-05 | Ancestry.com publicly traded on NASDAQ under “ACOM” | |
| 2010 | Ancestry.com, Inc. sold its book publishing assets to Turner Publishing Company. | |
| 2010 | Ancestry.com acquired iArchives, Inc. and its service footnote.com, later rebranded to Fold3. | |
| 2010-Dec-02 |  | Family Tree Builder 5.0 Released – Added “Tree Consistency Checker”, To-Do lists, improved privacy controls, DNA marker entry + many more |
| 2011-Jan-31 | Ancestry.com launched Android and iOS mobile genealogy apps. (Ancestry 2.0) | |
| 2011 | Footnote.com rebranded Fold3. | |
| 2011-June-1 | | Family Tree Builder 5.1 – Improved/Added importing from other genealogy programs |
| 2011-Dec | Ancestry.com moved Social Security Death Index (SSDI) behind a paywall and refused to display Social Security information for people who had died within past 10 years because of identity theft concerns (some of us may remember talk of the SSDI access being cut off to genealogists/the public). | |
| 2012 | Archives.com purchased by Ancestry.com for $100 million. | |
| 2012 | Ancestry.com spun off Newspapers.com into its own service. | |
| 2012-March | Ancestry.com acquired DNA assets from GeneTree. AncestryDNA launched. | |
| 2012-Oct | Ancestry.com acquired by private equity group (Permira Advisors, LLP, Ancestry.com’s management team, Spectrum Equity) for $1.6 billion. Ancestry.com purchased 1000Memories (photo digitization and sharing service) | |
| 2013 | Ancestry.com acquired FindaGrave from Jim Tipton (creator). | |
| 2014 |  | Family Tree Legends Discontinued by MyHeritage |
| 2013-July-15 | | PAF Companion 6 replaced by Charting Companion |
| 2013-July-15 | | Personal Ancestral File 5.2 (PAF 5.2) formally discontinued. |
| 2014-Sep 5 | MyFamily.com shut down by Ancestry.com, Inc. | |
| 2014-Dec-31 |  | The Master Genealogist Discontinued – TMG 9.0.5, released 2014-12-03, is the last version. |
| 2015-July16 | Ancestry.com launched AncestryHealth. | |
| 2015-Sep |  | Robin Lamacraft works to start the History Research Environment (HRE), which is an open source history and genealogy research platform to be used as a path forward by The Master Genealogist users. Wholly Genes (Bob Velke) has given them permission to use non-source code aspects of TMG. |
| 2017 | FindaGrave redesign launched. | |
| 2017 | We Remember (free online memorial platform) launched by Ancestry | |
| 2018-May-10 | | GEDCOM 5.5.1 AE Special Release, Annotated Edition, annotations & corrections |
| 2019-Oct-02 | | GEDCOM 5.5.5 Standard released, Maintenance release. |
| 2020-Mar-02 | RootsWeb – the Mailing Lists functionality was discontinued. Users can no longer send outgoing emails or accept incoming emails. Mailing lists were put into an archival state, and mailing list archives will remain available and searchable on RootsWeb. (sort of) | |
| 2020-Dec-04 | Ancestry.com LLC acquired by Blackstone Group for $4.7 billion. | |
| 2021-Feb | | GEDCOM 7.0.0-rc1 Draft, revealed at RootsTech 2021. Info, specifications, web site removed on 25 February 2021 |
| 2021-May-24 | Forces War Records (British military genealogy) acquired by Ancestry.com, Inc. | |
| 2021-May-27 | | GEDCOM 7.0 released, Modernized character encoding, symantic versioning, improved multimedia handling. |
| 2021-Nov | Ancestry.com acquired Geneanet. | |
| 2021-Aug-09 | WorldConnect family trees (RootsWeb) – last updated. | |
| 2023-Apr-15 | WorldConnect family trees (RootsWeb) are retired and moved to Ancestry.com as a free-access collection. | |
| 2023-May-01 | RootsWeb Mailing List/Archives are retired and supposed to be migrated to an alternative, free platform, with a link provided by RootsWeb. | |
| 2023-Aug-04 | | GEDCOM 7.0.13 released. |
Changelog
- December 8, 2024 – Added DoroTree and webtree launches
- December 6, 2024 – Added 1969 Entry
- November 6, 2024 – Added info, link about Gramps launch
- November 3, 2024 – Added Jenny II, PhpGedView
- October 21, 2024 – updated with mostly Ancestry.com, MyFamily.com, Family Tree Maker information.