You might find this interesting and pertinent to the debate as to what C# is a descendant of:

Look for the word "cool" in this linked page and you'll find a really good section on C# labeled "2000 -- C#, C Sharp" (don't miss out on clicking the "more..." link below the section on C#)
http://www.jaez.net/clang/clang.html

...MS has denied that C# is a derivative/extension/descendant of or borrower from the COOL project, but it's a little difficult to deny with a straight face...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/09/12/official_microsofts_csharp_is_cool/

>Hi, Sergey.
>
>>C# is not C++ descendant but new laungauge modeled after Java.
>
>Well, Java comes from C++ also, and C# is just another language on the C family, rooted on C++ and Objective C, and with a great influence from Java, of course, the same as the whole .NET model.
>
>Regards,