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.