The Ottoman dynasty did not observe primogeniture (the right of the first-born son to the throne), so in principle the throne was available to any imperial son.

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None of this seemed to be in Mr Dube's future when he was born, the sickly first son of a single mother on a run-down farm in East Transvaal.

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Another good friend of mine Hung Pham Do, the first Vietnam born Massachusetts CPA, was on the last plane out of Tan Son Nhut.

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This year is especially meaningful for the Kopelmans as they celebrate their first holiday season with their son, who was born December 28, 2011.

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Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was born in the state of Tabasco on November 13, 1953, the first son of shopkeeper parents and the eldest of what would be seven siblings.

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He first went to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar in the late '60s, and his son Anwar was born there in 1971.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The explanation for this pattern in India is that couples welcome a first-born of either sex, but if she is a daughter, then some ensure the second child is a son.

ECONOMIST: Distorted sex ratios in Ontario