Lincoln's DNA Troubles

One hundred forty-four years ago today President Abraham Lincoln was watching a play at Ford's Theatre, when he was shot in the head by an assassin. As he lay dying in a boarding house across the street from the theatre, his blood and brain matter oozed onto the pillowcase of the pillow where his head lay.

Move forward 144-years, and a strip of that pillowcase is in a museum. Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, had requested his father be allowed to rest in peace. But a well-known cardiologist, author, and consultant for the television show "House", John Sotos, would like to test the DNA from that pillowcase to see if his suspicions are correct. That the nation's 16th President was dying of cancer at the time of his assassination.

You can read all about this fascinating subject on the Philadelphia Post's website.