The Lincoln-Kennedy Coincidences on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was shot on this day in 1865. In 1964 mathematician Martin Gardner published a list of coincidences between Lincoln and Kennedy, a list of coincidences that are still making the rounds today. While there are skeptics about this list, I still find it remarkable. The list goes something like this:

"Lincoln" and "Kennedy" each have seven letters.

Both presidents were elected to Congress in '46 and later to the presidency in '60.

Both married women in their 20s while themselves in their 30s.

Both lost a son while living in the White House.

Both were shot in the presence of their wives.

Both assassins, were known by their three names, composed of fifteen letters.

Both presidents were runners-up for the party's nomination for vice-president in '56.

Both successors were Southern Democrats with the last name of Johnson; both were born in '08 and their first names contained six letters.

    

The assassins were both Southerners.

Both presidents were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both presidents were shot in the head on a Friday and died at nearby locations (Lincoln at the Petersen House across the street and Kennedy at Parkland Memorial Hospital down the road).

    

Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater. Kennedy was shot in a Ford car: a Lincoln limousine.

Kennedy had a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln (whose husband Harold's nickname was Abe), and she warned him not to go to Dallas.

    

Both Oswald and Booth were assassinated before they could be put on trial.

One part that is usually added to the list (Booth ran from Ford's Theatre and was caught in a warehouse; Oswald ran from the Dealey Plaza warehouse and was caught in a theater) is not entirely true because Booth was caught in a barn, not a warehouse.

Buddy Starcher had a top 40 hit in 1966 called "History Repeats Itself" detailing these coincidences. 

Thomas Jefferson (and the Sally Hemings Myth) on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: The third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, was born on this day in 1743. I think one of the most pernicious things done to the memory of Thomas Jefferson was to besmirch his name with the accusation of him impregnating one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings. Wikipedia shamelessly has posted: "According to DNA evidence from surviving descendants and oral history, Jefferson probably fathered at least six children with Hemings, including four that survived to adulthood."

What happened was, back in 1998, during Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal, the propaganda machine needed to throw light off Clinton and they targeted Jefferson. A team of geneticists tested Y-chromosomal DNA samples from male-line descendants of Thomas Jefferson’s uncle and descendants of Sally Hemings’ children. The result of the study was that a male Jefferson at the time fathered one of Sally Hemings' children. However, in addition to Thomas Jefferson, there were about 25 adult male Jeffersons who carried this chromosome living in Virginia at that time, and several of them are known to have visited TJ's home in Monticello.

A lawyer, William G. Hyland Jr., author of ‘In Defense of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemings Sex Scandal’ claims that it was Thomas's brother Randolph, “a ne’er-do-well,” who had a history of consorting with his brother’s slaves. Additionally, at the time this was all supposed to happen, Thomas Jefferson was 64, and his letters from that period are full of complaints about migraine headaches, arthritis, and intestinal infections. Jefferson was a man in poor health, and he was also not known to be sexual. Prior to this, Jefferson lost his wife Martha and he was devastated by the loss. 

See also American History & Mysteries, Over 200 PDF Books on DVDrom

For a list of all of my disks, with links click here 

The Zimbabwe Dollar on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: Zimbabwe officially abandoned the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency. The reason for this is hyperinflation. As the currency loses value the authorities respond by issuing more of it, thereby ensuring that it will lose even more value which then leads to the printing of even more money and so on. A year before this, a newspaper in Zimbabwe went from $200,000 to $25 billion in the space of one month. A beer was $150 billion. "The chaos spreads through everything. ATMs and computers cannot handle all the additional zeros. Suitcases full of paper are needed to buy things – what few things are available. The inflation is so rapid that wages cannot keep pace. A worker might find that his bus fare today is more than his weekly wage. Life becomes intolerable for almost everyone."~Bill Trench

In place of their own dollar Zimbabwe uses other currencies, such as the American dollar. However, the US is also doing what Zimbabwe did. Endless stimulus programs means more money printing. This then leads to inflation,

Current inflation levels:

Average Food Index 25%

Wheat 28%

Steel 145%

Lumber 188%

Oil 76%

Soybeans 71%

Corn 67%

Copper 48%

Silver 40%

Cotton 35%

40% of all dollars in circulation were "printed" in the last 12 months.

All paper money is doomed to fail. However, we live in a strange time right now when all dominant economies are engaged in inflating their money supply (Quantitative Easing).

Quantitative Easing Explained

Buy: The Folly of Socialism (40 Chapters) for 99 cents on Amazon

Visit a local listing for this here

See also The History & Mystery of Money & Economics-250 Books on DVDrom

For a list of all of my disks and ebooks (PDF and Amazon) click here

See also Over 300 PDF/Acrobat Books on Socialism, Communism and Economics and 300 Books on DVDrom for Libertarians, Objectivists and Voluntaryists

 

Today is International Louie Louie Day

 

Motorhead - Louie Louie

This Day in History: Today is International Louie Louie Day. April 11 was picked as International Louie Louie Day because the man who wrote the song, Matthew Barry was born on this day in 1935. There was an annual Louie Louie Parade in Philadelphia from 1985 to 1989; there was also a LouieFest in Tacoma from 2003 to 2012; there is an ongoing annual Louie Louie Street Party in Peoria; and there was an unsuccessful attempt in 1985 to make it the state song of Washington.

"By 1978, when John Belushi belted it out in Animal House, the song had been recorded in over 800 versions and translated into 20 different languages. In 1983, Rhino Records released The Best of Louie Louie, a whole record dedicated to one song (Volume 2 followed five years later). By 2000, the song had thoroughly inundated every aspect of pop culture, appearing in major motion pictures, TV shows, cartoons and commercials, in novels and nonfiction (rock critic Dave Marsh wrote an entire book about the song), and even in the work of one modern painter. There are several Louie Louie bars, cafes and restaurants around the world, as well as a mixed drink that bears the name."~Mental Floss

In 1964, an outraged parent wrote to Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, alleging that the lyrics of "Louie Louie" were obscene, and saying that "The lyrics are so filthy that I can-not enclose them in this letter." The FBI investigated the complaint, but after 31 months of investigation, they concluded that it could not be interpreted, that the song was "unintelligible at any speed," and therefore the Bureau could not find that the recording was obscene.

The Kingsmen's version of Louie Louie spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100 and almost made it to number one had it not been for the Singing Nun. Yup, it was a different time.

Today is World Homeopathy Day

 

Buy this Kindle book on Amazon on the Strange History of Medicine for only 99 cents
See a local listing for it here

This Day in History: Today is World Homeopathy Day. If I had to explain Homeopathy it would be to say that the more you dilute something, the more potent (or stronger) it becomes. To my mind, this makes no sense. Apparently I'm not the only one as Homeopathy is generally regarded as a pseudoscience. Several years ago Walmart was sued for selling and marketing homeopathic medicines, but it looks like that lawsuit was dismissed.

In Canada several years a boy with behavioral problems was given a homeopathic dose of rabid dog saliva because a naturopath decided that the boy’s problems were the result of having been bitten by a dog that had been vaccinated against rabies. [I'm as confused as you are this point] The homeopathic cure was a drop of saliva from the dog and adding a thousand drops of water, then taking one drop of this and adding another thousand drops of water and then repeating this again, eight more times. The final solution realistically does not contain any of the original dog saliva. This infinitely diluted solution is placed on a sugar tablet and ingested. Thus, we have a homeopathic remedy! Health Canada, a governmental body, approved this cure and granted it an identification number...which is all you need to know about Government and health.

See also Folk Medicine, Alternative Remedies & Herbal Cures - 100 Books on DVDrom

Alternative Medicine & Spiritual Healing - 175 Books on DVDrom

The Progressive Robert E. Lee on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, which ended the American Civil War on this day in 1865. While it is popular to portray Lee as a racist figure, a closer look him reveals someone quite different, perhaps even a progressive. 

Robert E. Lee had a distaste for slavery. "There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil. It is idle to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it is a greater evil to the white than to the colored race."

Lee freed his slaves early on. "In fact, it is a curious commentary on the motives connected with the war, that while Lee had set his slaves free, [Union General Ulysses S] Grant is said to have continued in the ownership of slaves until they were emancipated by the government of the United States" during the war. Lee was "in favor of freeing all the slaves in the South, giving to each owner a bond to be the first paid by the Confederacy when its independence should be secured." ~Thomas Nelson Page

https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/08/robert-e-lees-views-on-slavery.html

Some, who believe that the war was fought over slavery will be confused by the above. The war was not initially fought to free the slaves. Many Northern soldiers were actually upset after the Emancipation Proclamation: “Plenty of soldiers believed that the proclamation had changed the purpose of the war...They professed to feel betrayed. They were willing to risk their lives for the Union, they said, but not for black freedom.” [James McPherson, For Cause and Comrades, p. 120.]

McPherson wrote of a “backlash of anti-emancipation sentiment” in the Federal army and quotes various officers as saying things like, “If emancipation is to be the policy of this war… I do not care how quick the country goes to pot.” A Massachusetts sergeant wrote in a letter that “if anyone thinks that this army is fighting to free the [black man]… they are terribly mistaken.” Another officer declared that “I don't want to fire another shot for the [black man] and I wish that all the abolitionists were in hell… I do not fight or want to fight for Lincoln's...proclamation one day longer.”

But, as is often the case, wrong ideas about the Civil War and the people who fought for it continue to persist which leads to misinformation about people like Robert E. Lee...so much so that a few years ago ESPN pulled an announcer from calling a University of Virginia football game because his name was Robert Lee. This Robert Lee was Asian.

See also When Blacks Owned Slaves, by Calvin Dill Wilson 1905
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/02/when-blacks-owned-slaves-by-calvin-dill.html

You may also be interested in 220 Books on the American Civil War on DVDrom 1861-1865

For a list of all of my disks, ebooks (Amazon and PDF) click here

Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic" on This Day in History

 

This Day in History: The Aerosmith album "Toys in the Attic" was released on this day in 1975. The first time I really took notice of Aerosmith was when I heard "Last Child" on their 1976 album "Rocks." I thought their sound was fresh and unique and angry enough for this 14 year old boy. I remember a gathering outside my school in Alberta in 1976 when all the boys brought their favorite albums. The albums were all Heavy Metal, though we didn't call it that back then. The albums I remembered them bringing were Deep Purple, Nazareth, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Bachman Turner Overdrive and Alice Cooper. There weren't any Aerosmith albums at that gathering, they hadn't made it to the northern prairies at the time. Had the gathering been held two years later, Aerosmith albums would have been included, as Toys in the Attic and Rocks became party staples.

The Toys in the Attic album was ranked No. 229 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [Do people still read Rolling Stone?] Every song on the album was a winner, and one, Big Ten Inch Record, was written in 1952 by Fred Weismantel and is considered one of the best double entendre songs of all time. If you've heard the song, you know what I'm talking about.

The biggest song on the album was "Walk this Way," a title that was inspired by a scene in Young Frankenstein. The song also helped revitalize their career in the 1980s when it was covered by hip hop group Run-D.M.C. 

Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 70 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group.

Big Ten Inch Record by Bull Moose Jackson