The Mormon church’s new genealogical Web site was so overwhelmed by demand on its first official day May 24, it was forced to shut down for six hours while partner IBM scrambled to beef up server capacity, according to the Associated Press.
Built to handle 25-million hits a day, church officials say the site is currently getting 40-million hits a day. Additional demand from people unable to log on because of the volume of traffic is estimated at another 60-million hits.
The site offers free access to 400-million names via a specially designed search engine. Another 200-million names will be added by year’s end.
Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said at a news conference launching the site that the church has been amassing the data since 1894 because members are under religious obligation to identify their ancestors.
Posted May 31, 1999.