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

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

Abdellatif and Sandra Hafraoui
@LePapillonBleu2/X

New Jersey MAGA Couple Slams Trump For 'Ruining Our Lives' After Husband Gets Detained By ICE

Abdellatif and Sandra Hafraoui are a New Jersey couple that backed President Donald Trump, and they estimate they've paid $50,000 in legal fees since ICE agents detained Abdellatif despite initially believing the Trump administration's immigration crackdown would only "focus on criminals."

In fact, Sandra is furious at the man she voted for three times and believes he is "ruining" their lives.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshots of Donald Trump receiving gold medal from Team USA men's hockey team
@RonFilipkowski/X

The Men's Hockey Team Just Let Donald Trump Wear One Of Their Gold Medals—And The Jokes Came Pouring In

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after the U.S. men's hockey team arrived in Washington fresh off their victory at the Winter Olympics and handed him a gold medal to try on.

Trump has been flattered with gifts and cozied up to by energy lobbyists in recent months—he even received a "peace prize" from FIFA once upon a time—so his reaction here is really something.

Keep Reading Show less
Flavor Flav; Donald Trump
Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images; Win McNamee/Getty Images

Flavor Flav Shades Trump With Epic Invitation To US Women's Hockey Team For A 'Real Celebration'

Flavor Flav is a co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted legendary rap group Public Enemy. He later gained reality TV fame as the star of the VH1 dating show Flavor of Love.

But in recent years, Flavor Flav has been best known in pop culture as an enthusiastic hype man for Team USA at the Olympics, especially the often overlooked teams. For the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, he sponsored the entire women's water polo team.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Jon Stewart discussing Kash Patel
@TheDailyShow/X

Jon Stewart Says What We're All Thinking About Kash Patel After USA Hockey Locker Room Video Goes Viral

After FBI Director Kash Patel made headlines for chugging a beer and wearing a gold medal in the locker room of the USA Men's Olympics Hockey team following their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics, Daily Show host Jon Stewart mocked him profusely, saying what we're all thinking about the display.

In footage circulated online by William Turton of ProPublica, Patel appears to down a bottle of beer, throw his arms up, and slam his fist on a table in celebration. Moments later, Matthew Tkachuk of Team USA is seen placing his medal around Patel’s neck, after which Patel joins the victorious hockey players in singing "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" by Toby Keith.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Bess Kalb; Donald Trump
C-SPAN; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Former 'Jimmy Kimmel' Writer Epically Fires Back At 'Bruised Skin' Trump In Blistering Congressional Testimony

Bess Kalb, a former writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, criticized President Donald Trump during a hearing on Capitol Hill called “Silencing Dissent: The First Amendment Under Attack,” saying the president is the program's "best and worst audience" with "inexplicably bruised" and "very thin" skin.

Kalb's appearance is no accident given how much Jimmy Kimmel Live! has offended Trump's sensibilities over the years—and how he tried to pull it off the air last year.

Keep Reading Show less