Most people might agree that irony can play a significant part in their lives. They may share a birthday with a relative or a famous person, or may have gone to the same school once attended by celebrity or sports hero.

Irony can occur as a very benign "Oh, well, isn't that interesting?" feature in our world, all the way up to the shades of a conspiracy.

An example of an everyday routine ironic tidbit would be the fact that the pediatrician who delivered me into this world was Dr. Daniel (my first name). But what makes this an even more unusual situation is that the good doctor's first name was David (the same as my brother's first name).

Interesting, maybe; spooky, not really.

Probably one of the biggest spooky types of irony happened way back in 1963. Just mentioning the year should get most people of my generation a clue to where I'm going with this.

When President Kennedy's motorcade drove through downtown Dallas, Texas, early in the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 22, no one really knew what a giant list of coincidences was about to be set in motion.

If the Warren Commission is to be believed, Lee Harvey Oswald fired a rifle that k**led Kennedy while riding in his car traveling through Dealey Plaza.

Shortly after the president's assassination, people began to see the similarities (and some dissimilarities), between his life and death and that of a former chief executive, Abraham Lincoln.

Both men were shot in the back of the head on a Friday prior to a major holiday (Kennedy, Thanksgiving; Lincoln, Easter). And both men were accompanied by their wives at the time of their deaths.

Kennedy and Lincoln both were married while in their 30s to socialites who ironically, happened to speak fluent French.

In a turn of events, Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, shot the president in a theater (Ford's Theater) then hid out in a warehouse (okay, so it was a barn). Meanwhile, Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse (the sixth floor of the Texas School book Depository), then later tried to hide in a (movie) theater.

The list of ironic coincidences between the two tragedies continued to grow as people dug a little deeper into the facts...

...Lincoln and Kennedy were both second children.

...Each was elected to the presidency in '60 (Lincoln, 1860; Kennedy, 1960).

...Each had a vice president with the last name Johnson (Lincoln,
Andrew; Kennedy, Lyndon). Each vice president had 13 letters in their first and last names, and each Johnson fathered two daughters.

...Ironically, both Johnsons were born in '08 (Andrew, 1808; Lyndon, 1908). And each Johnson was followed into their presidency by Republican elected in '68 (Ulysses S. Grant, 1968; Richard Nixon, 1968).

...Lincoln and Kennedy were each related to a U.S. Senator, an Attorney General, an ambassador to Great Britain, and the mayor of Boston.

...Each knew a friend named Billy Graham and Adlai Stevenson.

...Each assassin had 15 letters in their three names (Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth).

...After their deeds, Booth and Oswald were each k**led by a single bullet from a Colt revolver.

The list of ironic features to those two historical events goes on and on. I've only scratched the surface.

Another national (if not international) irony in history covers the flight of Apollo 13, an American space mission launched on April 11, 1970.

Whether you lived through the actual event or just saw the movie, you're aware that the flight proved to be nearly disastrous when an oxygen tank exploded on the command module two days into the mission.

Fortunately, the three astronauts were able to make it back to Earth safely, but in a very dramatic fashion.

Later, people speculated that the number 13 might have had something to do with this craft's demise. After all, tall buildings generally do't have a 13th floor (the elevator numbers go directly from 12th to 14th).

Then, trisksaidekaphobics (people who are afraid of the number 13) pointed out that the explosion actually occurred on April 13. And that the day of the launch was 04-11-70 (add all of the digits together and, voila, you get 13).

Others made a big deal out of the fact that the time of the launch was 1:13 p.m. (or,in military time...13:13).

Coincidence? Irony? A cruel joke from the heavens? No one knows, but it is interesting, right?

Well, consider this.

Dr. Jim Fix, a nationally known proponent of exercise who wrote the book, "The Complete Book of Running," died on July 20, 1984, while jogging.

Coincidence? Irony? Who's to say?

But irony in wh**ever form it takes, is an interesting component of life. And whether or not there'e an unlucky part to life, it might be a good thing not to do any major betting on a Friday the 13th.

I'm just saying.

Danny Hirt, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, Fredericksburg, Texas...01-06-16.