Coincidences between the Presidencies of Lincoln and Kennedy

[Ivan Seeking]

This has been around for a long time but I assume that many readers may have never seen this.


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.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both were shot in the head.

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth,was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald,was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are comprised of fifteen letters

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

 

[Gza]

That's interesting in a few ways, yet inconclusive. You can pretty much select out any two people at random, and find many seemingly correlatory facts between them. This is really due to the bias of the fact reporter.


Edit: How did I just become a microwave?

 

[Prometheus]

That's interesting in a few ways, yet inconclusive. You can pretty much select out any two people at random, and find many seemingly correlatory facts between them. This is really due to the bias of the fact reporter.

You are correct. The posting is inconclusive, and the facts only seem to be correlatory. He clearly failed completely in proving his point conclusively and with facts that are actually correlatory. Just out of curiosity, what do you think the point of the post is, and what is the point that was demonstrated inconclusively?

I think that the topic is interesting no matter how often I read it. To me, the numerous seemingly correlatory similarities seem to correlate similarly and numerously.

 

[Gza]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think the point of the post is, and what is the point that was demonstrated inconclusively?

I think that the topic is interesting no matter how often I read it. To me, the numerous seemingly correlatory similarities seem to correlate similarly and numerously.

From your post, I can tell that you are a true experimental scientist in the way you dissiminate evidence based on "too good of" correlatory evidence. The problem I read into is the fact that the facts are selected by a person looking for correlations. For example, me and Tyson Beckford (male model) are born on the same day exactly ten years apart. We both have older brothers named Robert. We also have mothers with the same name of Pam. (I know this because we are family friends.) My bias of knowing similar facts between us destroys any relations that can be drawn (getting to your question of what points can be demonstrated inconclusively).

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Just for the record, no claims were made here. This list seems strikingly coincidental in light of the significance in our own minds - due to the respective historical events and their seeming connectedness - but I have no idea whether any statistical aberration is running amok. Probably not would be my guess. For example, both were shot on Friday. This hardly makes for long odds - 1:7. Both were assassinated by Southerners - 1:2. Both were succeeded by Southerners - 1:2.

Do we have any statisticians here?

 

[selfAdjoint]

Recall the birthday surprise. What is the number of randomly chosen people such that the probability of two of them having the same birthday is over 50%? The answer is about 25. The probability anyone pair doesn't have a birthday match in the group is 364/365 (ignoring leap years). The probability the nobody in a group of N people has a match is (364/365)^{N(N-1)/2}, and that goes under .5 for N somewhere in the middle 20's.

Also look up Ramsey theory (in any group of 6 people, it MUST happen that either there are two who know each other or two who are strangers to each other), and small world theory (six degrees of separation). All of these effects only form the tip of an iceberg of natural mathematical connections that can confuse people with mystical ideas.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Historically, as the 35th President Kennedy stood approximately a 1:12 chance of being assasinated.

As the 44th President, Kerry or Bush is looking at odds of assasination of 1:11.

 

[Prometheus]

The problem I read into is the fact that the facts are selected by a person looking for correlations.

I don't want to argue with you, but what is the "problem"? Of course, these were selected by a person looking for correlations. Isn't that obvious?

For example, me and Tyson Beckford (male model) are born on the same day exactly ten years apart. We both have older brothers named Robert. We also have mothers with the same name of Pam. (I know this because we are family friends.)

This is mildly interesting. If you could draw a dozen more such coincidences, then I might find it as interesting as the original posting here.

My bias of knowing similar facts between us destroys any relations that can be drawn (getting to your question of what points can be demonstrated inconclusively).

The point is that this is an interesting set of coincidences, not that anything can be demonstrated as a truism on the basis of these coincidences. I think that you perhaps read more into the post than the lighthearted jest through coincidence that this story is usually associated with.

 

[selfAdjoint]

Historically, as the 35th President Kennedy stood approximately a 1:12 chance of being assasinated.

As the 44th President, Kerry or Bush is looking at odds of assasination of 1:11.

From the first Harrison to Kennedy, every president elected in a year ending in 20, 40, 60, 80, or 00 - that is every twenty years- died in office. Some died of illness (Harrison, Harding, F.D. Roosevelt), most were assassinated (Lincoln, Garfield, McKiley, Kennedy). Reagan, elected in 1980 was shot and wounded, but recovered. Maybe that broke the curse. We can hope so, because Bush, elected in 2000, is the latest candidate.

 

[BoulderHead]

This has been around for a long time but I assume that many readers may have never seen this.


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.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both were shot in the head.

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth,was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald,was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are comprised of fifteen letters

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

I recall hearing of one other coincidence between those two Presidents involving the issuance of currency.