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Have a history teacher explain this if they can.
Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost a child while living in the White House.
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head.
Now it gets really weird.
Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy’s Secretary was named Lincoln.
Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.
Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.
Now hang on to your seat.
Lincoln was shot at the theater named “Ford.”
Kennedy was shot in a car called “Lincoln” made by “Ford.”
Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.
And here’s the “kicker”:
A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland.
A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.
AND……………….
Lincoln was shot in a theater and the assassin ran to a warehouse…
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and the assassin ran to a theater.
NOW FOR THE ACTUAL FACTS according to Wikipedia >>>
True Facts
- Both were elected to congress in ’46: Lincoln was elected in 1846, and Kennedy was elected to in 1946.
- Both were elected to the presidency in ’60: Lincoln was elected in 1860, and Kennedy was elected in 1960.
- Both have seven letters in their last names (“Lincoln” and “Kennedy”).
- Both were concerned with civil rights:
- Lincoln felt strongly that all slaves should be freed and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which legally freed all slaves.
- Kennedy was concerned with racial equality and was the first to propose what would be the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- Both married in their 30s to women in their 20s:
- Lincoln was married on November 4, 1842, Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, making him 33 years old at the time of his wedding. Lincoln’s bride, Mary Anne Todd, was born on December 13, 1818, making her 23 years old at the time of the wedding.
- Kennedy was married on September 12, 1953, Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, making him 36 years old at the time of his wedding. Kennedy’s bride, Jacqueline Bouvier, was born on July 28, 1929, making her 24 years old at the time of the wedding.
- Both lost a son while living in the White House: Lincoln lost his 11-year-old son, William, and Kennedy lost his infant son, Patric].
- Both were shot on a Friday: Lincoln was shot on a Good Friday, April 14, 1865, and Kennedy was shot on Friday, November 22, 1963.
- Both were shot in the head. (Lincoln and Kennedy).
- Both were shot in the presence of their wives. (Lincoln and Kennedy).
- Kennedy did have a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln, however there is no record that President Lincoln had a secretary named “Kennedy”.
- Both were assassinated by Southerners: Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth from Maryland, and Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald from New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Both of the presidents’ successors were named Johnson: Lincoln was succeeded by Andrew Johnson, and Kennedy was succeeded by Lyndon B. Johnson.
- Both were succeeded by Southerners: Andrew Johnson was from Raleigh, North Carolina, and Lyndon B. Johnson was from Texas.
- Both successors were born in ’08: Andrew Johnson was born December 29, 1808, and Lyndon B. Johnson was born August 27, 1908.
- Both assassins, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, are known by their three names.
- Each assassin’s full name is composed of fifteen letters.
- Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse, and Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater:
- Booth did run from Ford’s Theatre where he shot Lincoln, and was caught in a barn in Virginia.
- Oswald fled from the Texas School Book Depository, which was a warehouse, was where Oswald worked, and was where he had shot Kennedy from, and was arrested in a movie theater.
Uncertain Facts
- Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials:
- After refusing to surrender, John Wilkes Booth either shot himself, or was shot by trooper Boston Corbett.
- Oswald was assassinated by Jack Ruby while on his way to the county jail on November 24, 1963.
False Facts
- Lincoln’s secretary named Kennedy: Although President Kennedy did have a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln, there is no record that President Lincoln had a secretary named “Kennedy”.
- Both assassins were born in ’39: John Wilkes Booth was born May 10, 1838, while Lee Harvey Oswald was born October 18, 1939.
Analysis from Wikipedia
Some urban folklorists have postulated that the list provided a way for people to make sense of two tragic events in American history by seeking out patterns. Gardner and others have said that it is relatively easy to find seemingly meaningful patterns relating any two people or events.
Most of the items above are true, such as the year in which Lincoln and Kennedy were each elected President, but this is not so unusual given that Presidential elections are held only every four years. A few of the items are simply untrue: for example, there is no record to show that Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy; Lincoln’s secretaries were John Hay and John G. Nicolay. John Wilkes Booth was born in 1838, not 1839, and Lee Harvey Oswald was normally just “Lee Oswald” before the assassination.[5] However, Lincoln’s footman, William H. Crook did advise Lincoln not to go that night to Ford’s Theatre. David Mikklenson, on Snopes, also points out numerous ways in which Lincoln and Kennedy don’t match, to show the superficial nature of the alleged coincidences: For example, Lincoln was born in 1809 but Kennedy in 1917; though Lincoln and Kennedy were both elected in ’60, Lincoln was already in his second term when assassinated but Kennedy was not, and neither the years, months, nor dates of their assassinations match.
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Just WOW! What else can be said or thought? This is a very sharable short story others would be interested in knowing about as well, don’t you think?
