Kennedy/Lincoln Connections

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 presidents were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both presidents' wives' lost children both while living in the White House, and after living in the White House.

Mrs. Lincoln advised Mr. Lincoln not to go to the theater and Mrs. Kennedy advised Mrs. Kennedy not to go to Dallas.

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.

Abraham Lincoln died in 1865; Andrew Johnson died in 1875.

John F. Kennedy died in 1963; Lyndon Johnson died in 1973.

Both Johnsons faced the next election against men whose names began with "G" (Grant and Goldwater.)

Both successors left the presidency in disgrace without running for re-election.

Both presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both presidents were shot from behind, in the head.

Both presidents were shot while seated next to their wife.

Both presidents were assassinated by Southerners.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by three names, both names contain 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.

Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theater and Kennedy was shot in a Ford Lincoln.

Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy, and Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln. (Thanks, Crystalbelle!)

Lincoln's Assassination

Lincoln was watching the play "An American Cousin" in Ford Theater.  His assassin, Booth, an actor himself and aware of the dialog, knew the line that brought the loudest burst of laughter from the audience was, "Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdoligising old man-trap." Booth fired his gun at that precise moment to muffle the loud noise of his shot with the guffaws from the audience.

Mary Todd Lincoln shrieked when the President slumped over with blood on his head, and Booth struggled briefly with Major Rathbone, slashing him badly with the big knife he was also carrying. Then Booth attempted to vault from the Presidential box to the stage. He was an accomplished athlete and might have made the 10-12 foot jump if his spur had not caught on the bunting around the railing. He landed askew on one foot and broke his ankle, which did not prevent him from hobbling off in the confusion, while shouting something that is most often reported as, "Sic semper tyrannis!" ("Thus with all tyrants!", the state motto of Virginia)

One More Coincidence

Edwin Booth, John Wilkes' brother, later saved Robert Todd Lincoln, the President's son, from being killed by a train.

One Hundred Years Ago

The average life expectancy in the United States was forty-seven.

Only 14% of the homes in the United States had a bathtub.

Only 8% of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.

There were only 8000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 miles per hour.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the twenty-first most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage in the US was 22 cents an hour. The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2500 per year, a veterinarian between $1500 and $4000 per year, and mechanical engineer about $5000 per year.

More than 95% of all births in the United States took place at home.

90% of all US physicians had no college education. Instead, they were either self-taught or attended medical schools.

Sugar cost 4 cents a pound. Eggs were 14 cents a dozen. Coffee cost 15 cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason, either as travelers or immigrants.

The five leading causes of death in the US were pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, diarrhea, heart disease, and stroke.

The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

Drive-by shootings, in which teenage boys galloped down the street on horses and started randomly shooting at houses, carriages, or anything else that caught their fancy, were an ongoing problem in Denver and other cities in the West.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30. The remote desert community was inhabited by only a handful of ranchers and their families.

Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet. Scotch tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

One in ten US adults couldn't read or write. Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Punch card data processing had recently been developed, and early predecessors of the modern computer were used for the first time by the government to help compile the 1900 census.

18% of households in the United States had at least one full-time servant or domestic.

There were about 230 reported murders in the US annually.

Australian Animals

Australia has 300,000 species of animals. A large percentage are unique to the continent.

The coral reefs provide many good natural harbors. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest structure built by living things.

The kangaroo and the emu are on the national coat of arms because they cannot walk backwards.

Kangaroos can jump 10 feet high and 26 feet forward. They cannot jump unless their tail is touching the ground.

Koalas have two thumbs. They do not drink. Their fingerprints are very similar to those of humans. They are related to wombats, not bears.

There is a movement to promote the bilby, a nocturnal marsupial, as the Easter egg-deliverer, instead of the bunny.

The Julia's Creek dunnart is so small and weak when it is born that it cannot breathe. It begins its life by taking in oxygen through its skin.

The longest fence in the world stretches 3,307 miles across Australia, and is there to keep dingos away from the sheep. Canis lupus dingo, the Australian wild dog, is considered a pest.

The male duck-billed platypus is venomous.

The platypus and the echidna, or spiny anteater, are monotremes; they are egg-laying mammals. There are no other living monotremes in the world.

Freshwater crocodiles are found only in Australia. Saltwater crocodiles are the biggest reptiles in the world, growing up to 20 feet long.

There are 100 species of venomous snakes in Australia, including nine of the world's ten most deadly.