Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Explain What They Think Are The Biggest Coincidences In History

People Explain What They Think Are The Biggest Coincidences In History
Make us preferred on Google

Isn't it weird how these two things managed to line up?

Coincidence is one of the strangest phenomena on the planet. Two events lining up in perfect sync that have "nothing" to do with each other.


Is it coincidence? Or is it fate?

u/WillyWonnka asked:

What was the biggest coincidence in history?

Here were some of those answers.

Locked In A Fig

Giphy

In 1938, a baby fell out of a 4th floor window and onto a man sweeping the street named Joseph Figlock. They were both injured, but survived. About one year later, the same baby fell out of the same window and was caught by Joseph Figlock.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cxfkep...

Death Taxi

In 1974, a taxi in Bermuda struck a man named Erskine Lawrence Ebbin who was riding a moped, killing him. Exactly one year later, the man's brother, Neville, died while riding the very same moped...

...on the very same street...

...after being struck by a taxi...

...driven by the same driver...

...carrying the same passenger.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cxfkep...

Damned Dam

Giphy

The first man to die during the building of the Hoover Dam was J.G. Tierney, on December 20, 1922.

The final man to die during the project was Patrick W. Tierney, his son, in 1935...also on December 20.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cxfkep...

D-Day

In the days leading up to the allied invasion of Normandy, a British newspaper's crossword puzzle solution words correlated with the code names related to the attack. Words like Omaha, Utah, and even Overlord and Neptune.

The coincidence scared British high command so much that they arrested and interrogated the crossword's creator.

rigtek

Unfogging The Future

In 1898 a novella written by Morgan Robertson was published, it was a story about an "unsinkable" ocean liner named Titan which on a night of April was struck on its starboard side by an iceberg and was sunk in the North Atlantic, 400 nautical miles from Newfoundland. Fourteen years later it's 1912 and the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic departs from Southampton on its Maiden Voyage and is struck by an iceberg on the starboard side on the night of the 14th of April and sinks in the North Atlantic, 400 nautical miles from Newfoundland.

If you'd like to read more about it here is a wikipedia article with exact details.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cxfkep/what_was_the_biggest_coincidence_in_history/eyl7mmz/

She Used To Be Mine

Giphy

American writer Anne Parish was in Paris at a bookstore and found a copy of an English language children's book, "Jack Frost and Other Stories." She hadn't seen a copy of it since she was a little girl and remembered it being her favorite so she bought the copy and went to meet her husband at a nearby cafe. She explained to her husband how much she had loved the nursery rhymes as a child and began to recite some of them from memory. As he was leafing through the book the pages turned to the inside cover and written on the inside it said "Anne Parish" And was followed by her childhood address.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cxfkep...

Brutal Life Mirror

Edgar Allan Poe published just one novel: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, released in 1838. The novel tells of a doomed Antarctic journey in which four shipwrecked crewmen decide to eat cabin boy Richard Parker in order to survive.

In 1884, four crew members survived the ship wreckage of a vessel named the Mignonette. The survivors decided to eat their cabin boy in order to live. As fate would have it, that cabin boy's name was Richard Parker.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cxfkep...

Invaders

When Soviet archaeologists opened the tomb of Tamerlane, one of Ghenghis Khan's descendants and a conqueror in his own right (founder of the Timurid Empire), an inscription inside the casket was found, which read, "Whomsoever opens my tomb shall unleash an invader more terrible than I." Three days after the tomb was opened and the body removed, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union via Operation Barbarossa, the largest military invasion of all time. To add to that, Tamerlane was re-buried with full Islamic ritual in November 1942 just before the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/cxfkep...

Plunging The World Into War

Giphy

In Limburg, the Netherlands, there is a tradition of an old (fantasy) military style parade and Marksmen's competitions. Once a year all 150 or so guilds/association come together for one big festival which is called OLS (Old Limburgian Marksmen's festival). The winner gets to organize this festival to upcoming year. It is a big honor to win the marksmen's competition as it in groups of six and the marksmen have to hit every shot at a cubes as small as 0.5x0.5x0.5 cm at a distance of about 22m until there is only 1 team left.

One of the smallest townships (about 50 inhabitants) has won this competition twice. Once in 1914 and once in 1939. Twice it messed things up big time all over Europe. They have since disbanded their 'schutterij' to prevent WWIII.

AcquittalBurden

The Lawless West

The case of William and Will West who were identical to each other in physical appearance. They were, however, not at all related to each other. Apparently, one of them was a criminal and they arrested the other one which created a lot of confusion. Because of that, the idea of fingerprints was invented in 1892.

madhvisinghs

More from People

John Oliver
HBO

John Oliver Lands Guest-Starring Part On 'General Hospital' And 'Days Of Our Lives' After Begging For 'Juicy' Soap Role—And Fans Are Pumped

What's comedian and late-night host John Oliver's next big project? Something incisively and hilariously political like his HBO show Last Week Tonight, right?

Wrong! It's soap operas. Yes, those soap operas, the afternoon melodramas that have been running every weekday for decades and decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Abigail Velez
ABC7

Bosnia Claps Back Hard After U.S. Soccer Reporter Brags That She Can't Find The Country On A Map

ABC7 Los Angeles reporter Abigail Velez faced online anger over an ignorant jab at one of the nations competing in the FIFA World Cup.

Velez was covering the U.S. national team’s match on Thursday, a 3-2 loss to Turkey, when she noted the team's next match-up. Bosnia and Herzegovina is slated to face off against the United States in the round of 32 on Wednesday.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Peter Doocy and Fox host talking overlooking the Great American State Fair
Fox News

Fox News Dragged For Claiming 'People Are Still Coming Out' To Trump's Great American State Fair As Live Video Shows Otherwise

Fox News was widely mocked after White House correspondent Peter Doocy said on the air that "people are still coming out" to President Donald Trump's Great American State Fair despite their live footage showing hardly anyone in attendance.

Crowds were relatively light, according to several news organizations, with The Washington Post reporting that opening-day attendance was "relatively sparse compared with past National Mall events." The Post even said that “The crowd thinly covered an area about the length of the National Museum of American History, smaller than some more outdoor movie screenings.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Zohran Mamdani
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

'New York Post' Roasted Over Eyeroll-Worthy Headline About Mamdani Jumping In NYC Pool For Summer Tradition

The New York Post drew widespread mockery after publishing a story accusing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of "violating dress code rules" when he jumped into the Thomas Jefferson Pool in East Harlem wearing his signature suit, socks, and dress shoes instead of changing into swimwear as he joined residents cooling off.

The publication posted an article to X titled "Zohran Mamdani jumps into NYC pool to kick off summer tradition - while violating dress code rules" complete with photos of Mamdani jumping into the pool.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Trump Dragged For Not Understanding How Passports Work After Claiming New Ones Featuring His Image Will Include Bizarre Warning Phrase

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after appearing not to understand how passports work while unveiling a new rendering of a special-edition U.S. passport marking America's 250th anniversary that he claims will include the phrase "Welcome, but be good!"

Trump's post comes weeks after the State Department announced it will issue a limited run of commemorative passports for the 250th anniversary of the country's founding featuring an image of Trump, making him the first living president ever depicted on a U.S. passport.

Keep ReadingShow less