The Separated Twin Brothers Who Lived Identical Lives
A set of twins from Ohio who were separated at birth grew up without any knowledge of each other’s existence. They lives did however share a number of strange similarities. They were both named James on their adoptions, they both grew up to be police officers, and both of them married women named Linda. Each had a son, one named James Allan and the other one named James Alan, and each also had a dog named Toy. In 1979, a set of twins was reunited at age 39. They had been separated at four-weeks-old, and for 37 years, hardly knew of each other’s existence. So when they met, there were a few surprises: both boys had been named Jim by their adoptive parents, both loved math and carpentry, and both pursued careers in security. Even eerier, they each married women named Linda, divorced, and remarried women named Betty. James Allan and James Alan. This case became one of the most documented coincidences in modern psychological research, challenging everything we thought we knew about nature versus nurture.
The Woman Who Survived Three Historic Ship Disasters
Violet Jessop was a nurse and ocean liner stewardess who earned the nickname “Miss Unsinkable” by surviving both the accidents of the Titanic in 1912 and its sister ship, the HMHS Britannic, which met the same fate in 1916. Jessup was also reportedly on board a third boat, the RMS Olympic, when it hit a war ship—but fortunately, the Olympic stayed afloat. Fortunately for Violet Jessop, she survived all three. Jessop was aboard the RMS Titanic when it sunk in 1912 (she was aboard lifeboat 16 and handed a baby to look after), as well as its sister ship, the HMHS Britannic, when it sunk in 1916 (her lifeboat was nearly sucked under the boat’s propellers, but she jumped out and survived). She was also aboard the third of the sister ships, the RMBS Olympic, when it collided with a British warship in 1911 (there were no fatalities in this one). Jessop died at 83 of congestive heart failure in 1971. What are the odds of one person experiencing three of the most famous maritime disasters in history? Some called it the worst luck imaginable, while others insisted she was blessed.
The Entire Choir That Escaped Death by Being Late
Choir practice at the West Side Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska, always began at 7:20 on Wednesday evening. March 1, 1950, an explosion demolished the church. But every one of the choir’s fifteen members escaped injury, saved by a fortuitous coincidence: All were late for practice that night. It was later calculated that there was a one-in-a-million chance that the entire choir would be late that evening. It was later calculated that there was a one-in-a-million chance that the entire choir would be late that evening. Some believe it was merely a coincidence, brought about by a series of unrelated events. Others, however, believe it was the work of divine intervention, including the choir. “If this had been a busload of people stopped by a flat tire or any such occurrence, it might be considered a coincidence,” said Herbert Kipf. “But where you have 10, 12, 15 people scattered throughout the entire city and each of them detained by some trivial little thing, each different thing, it can’t be.” Each member had a different excuse—spilled dress, geometry homework, car trouble, an unfinished letter—yet they all resulted in the same life-saving delay.
Two Presidents Assassinated 100 Years Apart
Both presidents were elected to Congress in ’46 (1846 and 1946) and later to the presidency in ’60 (1860 and 1960). Both of the presidents’ successors were Democrats named Johnson (Andrew and Lyndon) with six-letter first names and born in ’08. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were particularly concerned with civil rights and made their views strongly known. Both presidents were shot in the head on a Friday and in the presence of their wives. While skeptics point out that most of the items listed above are true, such as the year in which Lincoln and Kennedy were each elected president, but this is not so unusual given that presidential elections are held only every four years. A few of the items are simply untrue: for example, Lincoln never had a secretary named Kennedy; Lincoln’s secretaries were John Hay and John G. Nicolay. The coincidences between the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations are not really so amazing. Despite the seemingly impressive surface appearance, several of these entries are either misleading or factually incorrect, and the rest are mostly mere superficial coincidences that fail to touch upon the much more substantial differences and dissimilarities that underlie them. Still, the sheer number of similarities continues to fascinate conspiracy theorists and casual observers alike.
Mark Twain’s Cosmic Destiny
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known more popularly by his nom de plume, Mark Twain, was born in 1835, the same year that Halley’s Comet made its first appearance. The comet made a second appearance in 1910, the year that Twain died, and the author, according to the New York Times, famously predicted that the two events would coincide. Author Mark Twain was born in 1835, a year that Halley’s Comet was visible from the Earth, a phenomenon that occurs just once every 76 years. The day after the next appearance of the comet, in 1910, Twain died. Perhaps this alone is not a huge coincidence, but the year before his death, Twain had actually predicted (and hoped for) this very outcome, stating “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. His prediction proved eerily accurate, making him one of the few people in history to literally schedule their own death with celestial events. What makes this even stranger is that Twain seemed to sense this cosmic connection throughout his life, often joking about his relationship with the heavens.
The Civil War That Started and Ended in One Man’s Yard
Behold the peculiar story of Wilmer McLean, who has the distinction of witnessing both the first land battle of the Civil War in 1861 and General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant in 1865, which effectively ended the conflict. At the start of the war, McLean’s home in Manassas, Virginia, was commandeered as the headquarters of Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. The home took damage from Union shelling, and McLean moved his family 100 miles south to avoid the violence of war. Ironically, the family’s new home was in the small town of Appomattox Court House in Virginia, the site of Lee’s surrender. Grant and Lee spoke for about a half-hour at the McLean home before Lee signed the surrender document. McLean reportedly said afterwards, “The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.” Imagine trying to escape war only to have it follow you to your new home 100 miles away. It’s like the universe had a very specific sense of humor about McLean’s role in American history.
The Author Who Predicted Real-Life Cannibalism
Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel, “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym,” described four shipwrecked sailors who ate their cabin boy, Richard Parker. Forty-six years later, four shipwrecked sailors ate their cabin boy – named Richard Parker. The real Richard Parker was a 17-year-old cabin boy aboard the yacht Mignonette when it sank in 1884. After 19 days adrift, the other crew members decided to kill and eat Parker, who was already near death from drinking seawater. The subsequent trial of the survivors became a landmark case in British law regarding the defense of necessity in murder cases. Poe wrote his fictional account in 1838, yet it contained so many accurate details about what would happen 46 years later that some people wondered if he possessed supernatural foresight. The case became so famous that it established legal precedent still referenced today. Could this really be just a coincidence, or did Poe somehow tap into some cosmic pattern of human behavior?
The Founding Fathers Who Died on America’s Birthday
On July 4, 1826, as the country celebrated 50 years since declaring its independence from Great Britain, the 83-year-old Jefferson passed away at his Virginia estate, Monticello. History added a postscript to this remarkable coincidence in 1831 when James Monroe became the third of the first five U.S. presidents to die on Independence Day. James Madison, Jefferson’s close friend and fellow Virginian who succeeded him in the White House, died on June 28, 1836, after refusing stimulants offered by his doctors in order to prolong his life until July 4. An unlikely pair whose tumultuous friendship lasted half a century, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, 50 years after signing the Declaration of Independence. Founding fathers Thomas Jefferson (left) and John Adams (right), alternately close friends and bitter rivals across their intertwined political careers, died on the same day — July 4, 1826 — the 50th anniversary of American independence, of which these two men were chief architects. At around 6 p.m. on that fateful day, Adams, unaware that Jefferson had died just after noon, uttered his final words: “Thomas Jefferson survives. What makes this even more poignant is that Adams spoke Jefferson’s name as his final words, unaware his old friend had already passed hours earlier.
Flight 666 to Hell on Friday the 13th
There are a lot of “coincidences” (read: far-flung conspiracy theories) on the internet involving the number 666, but this story happens to be true! Finnair flight 666 departed from Copenhagen and landed in Helsinki (HEL) on Friday the 13th. You read that right: Flight 666 flew straight to HEL on the most nefarious of days. Thankfully for the passengers aboard, the coincidence ended there: They landed safely at their final destination. The airline had been operating this route for years before anyone noticed the dark humor in the flight number and destination code combination. When reporters asked passengers about their concerns, most laughed it off, though a few admitted to feeling slightly nervous during takeoff. The airline eventually retired the flight number, but not before it became an internet sensation. Sometimes reality creates better superstitious scenarios than fiction ever could.
Anthony Hopkins and the Impossible Book Discovery
When Anthony Hopkins was preparing for his role in The Girl from Petrovka, he wanted to find a version of the book (written by George Feifer) so he could study it before filming began. But wherever he looked, he couldn’t find a copy until one day, while sitting on the subway, he found a copy on the carriage in which he was travelling. But that’s not the end, because when Hopkins later met the author, Feifer told him that he also didn’t have a copy of the book. Why? Because he’d lent his last one to a friend, who had then accidentally lost it on the subway! The book Hopkins found on the London Underground was the exact same copy that the author had lost. In a city of millions of people, using one of the world’s busiest subway systems, Hopkins randomly discovered the author’s personal copy. When they met later, Feifer couldn’t believe the story until Hopkins showed him the book with his personal notes still in the margins. It’s the kind of coincidence that would be rejected as too unbelievable in a Hollywood script.
The War Bookends: First and Last British Soldiers
The first and last British soldiers killed in WWI are buried six feet apart in the same cemetery in Belgium. Private John Parr died in 1914, while George Ellison fell in 1918. They rest together, their graves a perfect bookend to a tragic chapter of history. Private Parr was just 17 when he died on August 21, 1914, likely killed while on a reconnaissance bike patrol. George Ellison survived four years of brutal warfare only to fall on November 11, 1918, just 90 minutes before the armistice was signed. They’re buried in Saint Symphorien Military Cemetery, their graves facing each other across a small plot of land. Neither man could have known they would become such powerful symbols of the war’s tragic symmetry. Out of nearly one million British casualties, these two soldiers—separated by four years of war—ended up resting side by side for eternity. The symbolism is so perfect it seems almost planned by some higher force honoring their sacrifice.
The Man Who Survived Two Atomic Bombs
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States detonated two nuclear bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The blasts, and the radiation they caused afterward, killed nearly 90,000 people. Despite the double radiation exposure, Yamaguchi lived to be 93. He passed away in 2010 from stomach cancer. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business when the first atomic bomb detonated, severely burning his face and arms. Incredibly, he managed to return home to Nagasaki just in time for the second atomic bomb. He was one of only a handful of people officially recognized as surviving both nuclear attacks. His story challenges our understanding of human resilience and the randomness of survival. Yamaguchi went on to become an advocate for nuclear disarmament, using his unique and terrible experience to warn the world about the horrors of atomic warfare.
The Beatles and Eleanor Rigby’s Grave
In 1957, John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at a party at St. Peter’s Church in Woolton. It was a fateful meeting—one that no doubt changed the course of musical history—but that’s not the coincidence here. Just yards away from their meeting place was the grave of Eleanor Rigby. Nine years later, McCartney wrote the song “Eleanor Rigby.” He claimed he named the character after the actress Eleanor Bron, and a store in Bristol named Rigby & Evens Ltd. Later, he admitted that the grave may have played a subliminal part in his song’s namesake, writes the BBC. The future Beatles members couldn’t have known that just steps away lay buried the woman whose name would become one of their most haunting songs. McCartney has always maintained the name came from other sources, but the proximity of that gravestone to their first meeting seems too perfect to ignore. It’s as if the universe was planting seeds for future musical history. The grave itself became a pilgrimage site for Beatles fans, though sadly, as the song predicted, few people had attended Eleanor Rigby’s actual funeral decades earlier.
Stephen Hawking’s Perfect Death Date
As Stephen Hawking himself would tell you, time is relative. But that doesn’t quite explain why his death occurred on what many consider a fairly significant day: Einstein’s 139th birthday, Galileo’s 300th death-day, and Pi Day (March 14, when the date reads 3 The greatest physicist of our time died on March 14, 2018—a date that celebrates the mathematical constant pi (3.14). It was also Albert Einstein’s birthday and the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death. For a man who spent his entire career unraveling the mysteries of space and time, the cosmic timing of his passing seemed almost too perfect. Hawking had often joked about the nature of time and coincidence in his lectures, suggesting that perhaps the universe has its own sense of humor. His death on such a mathematically and scientifically significant date felt like the universe’s final tribute to one of its greatest interpreters.
The Hitler-Napoleon 129-Year Pattern
Adolf Hitler was born 129 years after Napoleon Bonaparte. Hitler’s rise to power took place 129 years after Napoleon’s; he invaded Russia 129 years after Napoleon, and he was ultimately defeated 129 years after the defeat of Napoleon. The mathematical precision of this pattern is unsettling when you consider these were two of history’s most devastating military leaders. Both men rose from relatively humble beginnings to conquer most of Europe. Both made the