1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of Curiosities. If we were in an 5 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: actual cabinet of curiosities, a massive room full of oddities 6 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: and wonders that we could browse and admire, I would 7 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: probably lead you over to a corner where two paintings 8 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: hung on the wall. Looking up, you would recognize each 9 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: of the subjects immediately, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. 10 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: I don't need to tell you how similar these two 11 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: men were, right, you can put the pieces together yourself. 12 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: Both served as presidents of the United States, and both 13 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: were assassinated while in office. They each represented sad moments 14 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: in American history where great leaders were struck down before 15 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: their time. For the generations that went through the aftermath 16 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: of these tragedies, they were foundational, unforgettable events. But you 17 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: don't know everything, such as why I might have placed 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: their portraits here in a place where you come to 19 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: find the unusual and unexplainable. Don't worry, though, what sort 20 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,479 Speaker 1: of tour guide would I be if I didn't reveal 21 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: it all to you first, It's helpful to look at 22 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: the numbers. Lincoln and Kennedy both served in Congress before 23 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 1: ascending to the presidency, and each of them was elected 24 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: to those roles in years that ended in forty six. 25 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: When they were elected to the White House, both of 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: them did so in years ending in sixty weird, right, 27 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: It gets weirder though. Kennedy was killed in the seventh 28 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: car of his motorcade, while Lincoln was shot in theater 29 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: box number seven. Both men were shot in the head. 30 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: Both assassin nations happened on a Friday. Even the killers 31 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: were similar. John Wilkes Booth escaped the theater and was 32 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: found in a barn sort of a nineteenth century warehouse. 33 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: Lee Harvey Oswald fled from a warehouse and was caught 34 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: in a theater, and both of them were killed before 35 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,679 Speaker 1: they could go to trial. When it was all over, 36 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: each man was succeeded by their vice president, as is 37 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:27,359 Speaker 1: the tradition, except both of those men were named Johnson, 38 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: each were born in years ending oh eight, and each 39 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: were from the South. I know, it's easy to look 40 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:39,119 Speaker 1: at a lot of that and just shrug coincidences happen, right, 41 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: especially when they have a century to line up and 42 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: counting the letters, and a person's name is pretty weak 43 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: according to some. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I'll 44 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: leave that up to you. One last thing. It said 45 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: that Lincoln had a dream about his assassination. In it, 46 00:02:57,639 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: he found himself standing in the White House, which was 47 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,359 Speaker 1: fully decorated for a state funeral. There in the east room, 48 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: he could see a body laid out for burial. Who 49 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: is dead in the White House? Lincoln asked one of 50 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: the nearby soldiers guarding the body. The president came the 51 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:19,839 Speaker 1: soldier's reply, killed by an assassin. Here's the odd thing, though, 52 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: other than dreaming about a murdered president. Of course, Lincoln 53 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: told some friends about his dream a short time after 54 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: it happened, and he told them something else. It turns 55 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: out the body on display was not him, but another 56 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: man that Lincoln did not recognize. Knowing what we do 57 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: about the deep similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy, it wouldn't 58 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: hurt to stop and wonder and ask the most obvious 59 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: question of all the questions. Yet, was Kennedy the man 60 00:03:50,640 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: that Lincoln dreamed about when he checked into the hotel 61 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: on Long Island. He did so under a false name. 62 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: It was April seventeen night, and the man listed as 63 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: Albert C. White was very much not who he claimed 64 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: to be. He was actually the twenty eight year old 65 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: nephew of legendary steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, and even shared 66 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: his name. He was Andrew Carnegie Whitfield. He paid in 67 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: advance four dollars for a single night if you're curious 68 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 1: what hotel rates were like in nineteen thirty eight, and 69 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 1: deposited his belongings in the room before taking a card 70 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: to the nearby Roosevelt Field Airport, where he had a 71 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 1: plane waiting for him. It was silver and red, very 72 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: flashy and very noticeable, and he planned to take it 73 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: for just a quick flight. His destination, he claimed, was 74 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: an airfield in Brentwood, New York, about twenty two miles away. 75 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 1: He had plenty of fuel, perfect weather, a heavily populated 76 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: landscape to fly over, and hundreds of hours of flight 77 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: time under his belt. He was happily married, was enjoying 78 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: success as an executive for a large company, and was 79 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: even planning to relocate his family to a better home 80 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: at the end of the month. He had everything going 81 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: for him on land and in the air, and then 82 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: he vanished. When they searched his hotel room, they found 83 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: a lot of things to raise questions. There were records 84 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 1: of a phone call to his own home. His clothing 85 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: was still there in the room too, along with his 86 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: monogrammed cuff links. Oddly, he had even brought along to 87 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 1: life insurance policies and several stock and bond certificates that 88 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,039 Speaker 1: had his name on them. But Andrew Whitfield was nowhere 89 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: to be found. It didn't make sense, and no matter 90 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: how hard they tried, the authorities couldn't locate him or 91 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: his red and silver airplane. They had simply vanished into 92 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: thin air. One other thing, though, remember that phone call 93 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: he made to his home from the hotel room. Well, 94 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: it was unusual for two reasons. First, when no one answered, 95 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: the operator who was trying to connect their call overheard 96 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: him mutter, well, I'm going to carry out my plan. Weird, right, 97 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: Not as weird as the second detail. That call, it seems, 98 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: took place while his family was out of the house. 99 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: They were out of the house because they'd gone to 100 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: join the search party looking for him. The call, you 101 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,799 Speaker 1: see didn't happen before his flight. It was placed hours 102 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: after he vanished. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 103 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 104 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 105 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky 106 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 107 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 108 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,600 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 109 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until 110 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.