Have a history teacher explain this---- if they can.

[djwhitaker2004]

One of my friend tell me about 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.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents 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 Osward, 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 at the theater named 'Ford'.
Kennedy was shot in a car called 'Lincoln' made by 'Ford'.

Lincoln was shot in a theater & his assassin ran & hide in a warehouse.
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse & his assassin ran & hide in a theater.

Booth & 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.

Creepy huh?

[Tony_Baritone]

Wow, the first time I read this was almost 20 years ago.  Anyway, here's the take of some historians on the list:

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/linckenn.htm

[Terry Y]

HOMER: Did you know Lincoln and Kennedy had the same handicap?

Of course, he was talking about golf...

I've never heard any mention of either president playing golf. 

[c_nordlander]

The Snopes article pretty much nailed it. You could easily find "correspondences" like these between pretty much any two people. I found the Marilyn Monroe/Monroe, Maryland coincidence funny, though.

[Tigersrock144]

lol would if I understood american history a bit better, all we've learnt this year is about prohibition and last year we learnt about the 1st world war more but that wasn't just American though :/.  I wouldn't mind learning more about America though seeing as all we used to learn in history before I chose it for GCSE was about Tudor people X) lol

[The Great Malinko]

If i may ask what was the point of all that?

[Vulgaris_Prime]

If i may ask what was the point of all that?

It's one of those "weird coincidence...or IS IT?" things people like to latch on to.  I don't buy into them, but eh, different strokes and all.

[arpulver]

Ah, who needs historians when you have Snopes? In the end, the coincidences are either insignificant or just flat out wrong.

Now the eerie concidences between the Garfield and McKinley assassinations? There's some serious voodoo. 

[The Great Malinko]

still i have yet to see you people care about such things.

[c_nordlander]

Speaking of creepy coincidences, one that spooked me and that I don't think is very well known:

One of August Strindberg's less known surreal plays, "Stora landsvägen" ("The Great Country Road"), published in 1909, concerns a Japanese man who will be cremated to atone for the sins of mankind. This character's name is... Hiroshima.

Let's see the government hush that one up.