Princess Mindy's blog: "Mindy's thoughts!"

Amazing Fact Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. Amazing Fact Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Amazing Fact The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Amazing Fact Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. Amazing Fact Both wives lost their children while living in the White House. Amazing Fact Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Amazing Fact Both Presidents were shot in the head. Amazing Fact Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln. Amazing Fact Both were assassinated by Southerners. Amazing Fact Both were succeeded by Southerners. Amazing Fact Both successors were named Johnson. Amazing Fact Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. Amazing Fact John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939. Amazing Fact Both assassins were known by their three names. Amazing Fact Both names are comprised of fifteen letters. Amazing Fact Lincoln was shot at the theatre named 'Kennedy'. Kennedy was shot in a car called 'Lincoln'. Amazing Fact Booth ran from the theatre and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theatre. Amazing Fact Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. Amazing Fact This is the climactic last alleged fact that the author decribed as "the kicker." A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland. A week before Kennedy was shot, he was in Marilyn Monroe. And, now, responses to these Amazing Facts!! Alleged Amazing Fact Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. Comment This is, of course, no more remarkable than two victims of assassination being elected 96 years apart or 104. One hundred is just such a nice, round number that people see extreme significance in it--much like they did the year 2000, for instance. There are many people who have been elected president 100 years apart. And each being assassinated doesn't deepen this coincidence one iota, because we chose two assassinated leaders and then found that by coincidence they were elected 100 years apart. Alleged Amazing Fact Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Comment Obviously people might think that both men entering politics 100 years apart, and then being elected president also 100 years apart is a great coincidence. However, when two people are separated by about X years in history, it seems very likely, in fact more likely than not, that major milestones in their lives are separated by roughly the same increment as well. This is entirely expected. At least it is more expected than their being elected to congress 100 years apart, and being elected president 150 years apart, because one of them would have been in congress as long as Strom Thurmond. The parallel in political careers diverges here, for Kennedy won a Senate seat in 1952, while Lincoln lost his Senate bid in 1858. Alleged Amazing Fact The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Comment OK, and I might add that their successor's names also had 7 letters. Perhaps seven letter last names are quite common. Alleged Amazing Fact Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. Comment It would be more amazing if they hadn't been concerned with civil rights, because civil rights were THE SOCIAL CONCERNS of the day in both instances. During both of these time periods the country was nearly torn to pieces over the issue. In fact, to characterize the Lincoln Presidency as being "particularly concerned with civil rights" seems a comic understatement. Alleged Amazing Fact Both wives lost their children while living in the White House. Comment This is a muddied statement that ought to read "Both their wives lost a child while living in the White House." In fact the Lincoln's lost three of their four children before the children reached adulthood. The death of children was not uncommon at the time. I am unable to find information regarding the Kennedy's child, but I recall this being a miscarriage, which is not only surprisingly common, but makes the two losses not really comparable. There is less parallel than the myth suggests. Alleged Amazing Fact Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Comment I originally thought this was a mistake through a mistaken calculation of weekdays. I parodied the coincidence with, "This would be an excellent coincidence if it weren't for Kennedy being shot on a Thursday." However, I stand corrected. Lincoln was actually shot on Thursday and died on Friday, whereas Kennedy was shot and died on Friday. Once again the full story has not quite the parallel that the simple story suggests. Alleged Amazing Fact Both Presidents were shot in the head. Comment When someone is trying to kill a person, they will likely shoot them in the head. It is more effective than shooting them in the leg, for instance. So this is entirely expected. Alleged Amazing Fact Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln. Comment This is quite difficult to analyze. How many secretaries and assistants did each have? Did Kennedy choose Lincoln as secretary from a pool of applicants because of his name? Sometimes coincidence is not all it seems. From everything that I read Lincoln had two secretaries. Neither of them named Kennedy. Another alleged coincidence dies. Alleged Amazing Fact Both were assassinated by Southerners. Comment J. Wilkes Booth was born in Maryland. I suppose that if one were trying to force a cosmic connection, then Maryland might pass muster as a southern state, although I think of it as in the Union because we refer to Lee as "invading " MAryland in 1862 at Harper's Ferry and Antietam. The best a person could argue is that Wilkes was a southern sympathizer maybe. Alleged Amazing Fact Both were succeeded by Southerners. Comment OK, granted; but it isn't as though each man having a southerner as Vice President was a random occurence. Each was a northern politician trying to win an election by choosing a southern running mate. Things that people do by design are not coincidences. Alleged Amazing Fact Both successors were named Johnson. Comment It isn't as though Johnson is a strange last name. Alleged Amazing Fact Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. Comment There is that 100 year separation again. Alleged Amazing Fact John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939. Comment They are trying for the 100 year thing again! It didn't work this time, though. Booth was actually born in 1838. What I found interesting about researching Lee Harvey Oswald's age is the misinformation regarding it in web documents. Alleged Amazing Fact Both assassins were known by their three names. Comment Famed killers must be called by their full given name. All three names. Just like John Wayne Gacy and Mark David Chapman. Alleged Amazing Fact Both names are comprised of fifteen letters. Comment What a bore I'm going to be here. Let us suppose that the length of a name is a random variable where the probability of very long or very short names is small and the expected length is about 5 letters. Then, the distribution of the summed lengths of three names is going to be sharply peaked at 15 letters. In other words, this might be common. I can think of 3 members of my immediate family who meet this test also. Alleged Amazing Fact Lincoln was shot at the theatre named 'Kennedy'. Kennedy was shot in a car called 'Lincoln'. Comment I had trouble believing what I was reading here, because I recalled distinctly from High School or earlier that Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre. Practically any person with high school education would recall this fact. Moreover, this seems to be a corruption of the original list of coicindences in which this one was "Lincoln was shot in a theatre built by Ford. Kennedy was shot in a car built by Ford." Alleged Amazing Fact Booth ran from the theatre and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theatre. Comment Well, I could explain this coincidence as resulting from the shear number of theaters and warehouses, but the story of Booth's escape is so complex that to characterize it as "ran from a theatre and was caught in a warehouse" skirts the suburbs of misrepresentation. Booth was ultimately caught in a tobacco shed on a farm, which hardly qualifies as a warehouse. Alleged Amazing Fact Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. Comment Booth died in a gunbattle, so reports of his assassination are highly exaggerated. Alleged Amazing Fact This is the climactic last alleged fact that the author decribed as "the kicker." A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland. A week before Kennedy was shot, he was in Marilyn Monroe. Comment I was pretty sure at this point that the whole e-mail was a joke. Nevertheless, I have gone this far, and I may as well finish. Marilyn Monroe died over one year before Kennedy's assassination. Also, there is no Monroe, Maryland known to the U.S. Post Office at least. Perhaps there was in 1865.