August 7, 2019
I know you’re thinking, “What does Thor Heyerdahl have to do with genealogy?” On August 7, 1947 the Kon-tiki, a balsa wood raft, completed an ocean voyage of 4,300 miles from Peru to Raroia, near Tahiti. Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian anthropologist, wanted to prove that prehistoric South Americans could have colonized the Polynesian Islands by drifting on ocean currents.
Heyerdahl had a crew of 5 on the 45 foot long raft. They set sail from Peru on April 28, 1947 and drifted for 101 days before washing up on Rarioa, thus proving his theory. Anthropologists and historians of the day continued to discredit his belief, in spite of his successful journey. The public, however, was entranced with his feat. His book, Kon-tiki became an international bestseller and was translated into 65 languages. His documentary of the same name, won an Academy Award in 1951.
I subscribe to “This Day in History” . When I saw this article in my email- it reminded me of Mom’s Kon-tiki story:
Here are a few pictures from around that time-
Snapshort 