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\\nAbraham Lincoln\'s eldest son, Robert, is the subject of a grim coincidence in American history: He\'s the only person known to have been present or nearby at the assassinations of three American presidents. In this episode of the\\xa0Futility Closet podcast we\\xa0describe the circumstances of each misfortune and explore some further coincidences regarding Robert\'s brushes with fatality.
\\nWe also consider whether a chimpanzee deserves a day in court and puzzle over why Australia would demolish a perfectly good building.
\\nSources for our segment on Robert Todd Lincoln:
\\nJason Emerson, Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln, 2012.
\\nCharles Lachman, The Last Lincolns: The Rise and Fall of a Great American Family, 2008.
\\nMerrill D. Peterson, Lincoln in American Memory, 1994.
\\nRalph Gary, Following in Lincoln\'s Footsteps, 2002.
\\nSources for the listener mail segment:
\\n"Lyman Dillon and the Military Road,"\\xa0Tri-County Historical Society (accessed 11/06/2014).
\\nCharles Siebert, "Should a Chimp Be Able to Sue Its Owner?", New York Times Magazine, April 23, 2014.
\\nThis week\'s lateral thinking puzzle is from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale\'s 1994 book Great Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Some corroboration is here\\xa0(warning: this spoils the puzzle).
\\nYou can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes\\xa0or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset.
\\nMany thanks to Doug Ross\\xa0for the music in this episode.
\\nIf you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!
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