The coincidences between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are a piece of American folklore of unknown origin. The list of coincidences appeared in the mainstream American press in 1964, in the wake of the 1963 John F. Kennedy assassination, having appeared prior to that in the G.O.P. Congressional Committee Newsletter.[1][2] Martin Gardner debunked much of the list in an article in Scientific American, later reprinted in his book, The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix.[3] Gardner's version of the list contained 16 items; many subsequent versions have circulated having much longer lists. The list is still in circulation today, having endured in the popular imagination for over 40 years. A more recent debunking of the list is available online at Snopes.com.[4]
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An example of a shorter version of the list is presented here for illustration. Much of the list has been debunked, and some entries are outright falsehoods. Some urban folklorists have postulated that the list provided a way for people to make sense of two tragic events in American history by seeking out patterns.[4] As Gardner and others have pointed out, however, it is relatively easy to find seemingly meaningful patterns relating any two people or events, but such patterns often do not stand up to rigorous scrutiny.
Some of the items above are true, such as the year in which Lincoln and Kennedy were each elected President, but this is not so unusual given that Presidential elections are held only every four years, and both started their political careers 100 years apart. Other items twist the truth. Some of the items are simply untrue; there is no record to show that Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy; Lincoln's secretaries were John Hay and John G. Nicolay.[4] The list has inspired humorous parody, such as an item that says: "Before being killed, Lincoln was in Monroe, Maryland, while Kennedy was in Marilyn Monroe."[4]
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