In The, "You Can't Make This Up" Category

Apparently, Al Sharpton's relatives were slaves owned by relatives of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond. Sharpton was asked by a Daily News reporter, who agreed to have his family tree done by Ancestry.com, if Sharpton was interested in having his done. Sharpton said go for it. And the envelope please.....

(AP/Guardian) Professional genealogists, who work for Ancestry.com, found that Sharpton's great-grandfather Coleman Sharpton was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.

``Based on the paper trail, it seems pretty evident that the connection is there,'' said Mike Ward, a genealogist with Ancestry.com, who called the link ``amazing.''

In order to confirm these findings, a DNA test needs to be done, which Sharpton's spokesperson said he is pursuing.

The skeptic in me says, this is great publicity for Ancestry.com. Even if the DNA tests come back negative, they are getting a lot of publicity. But either way, this is pretty wild.