5 Historical Coincidences That Blow Our Minds
Call coincidence what you’d like: luck, karma, fate, or just random happenstance. In any case, when similar events occur, it’s fascinating and, sometimes, downright eerie. Some coincidences have so many layers that they take on a second role in the form of conspiracy theory or prophecy. Coincidences, by nature, require zero planning; all we need to do is wait for them to happen. Here’s a look back at five strange coincidences throughout history.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Died on the Exact Same Day
It’s unlikely enough that two of America’s Founding Fathers would die on the very same day, but this story gets even stranger. First, these two political rivals died within hours of each other. Even weirder? The date of their passing was July 4, 1826 — 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson weren’t the same age when they died, though — Adams was 90 and Jefferson was 83. There are multiple theories on why this happened, and sheer coincidence is certainly one. To add another eerie layer, founding father James Monroe also died on the Fourth of July, five years later.
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Halley's Comet Marked Mark Twain’s Birth and Death
Some coincidences have an interstellar twist. American author and humorist Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835, the same year Halley’s comet passed within sight of the Earth during its 76-year journey around the sun. Twain, who was a unique figure in his own right, was aware of this fact and found it amusing to hitch his wagon to the rare cosmic occurrence. As he wrote in 1909, "I came in with Halley's comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's comet. The Almighty said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'" Twain’s wish came to fruition: He passed away on April 21, 1910, as Halley’s comet was passing Earth.
A Man Was Hit by a Baby Falling Out of a Building — Twice
In 1937, Joseph Figlock, a public works street sweeper, was cleaning up an alley in midtown Detroit when an infant plummeted from a fourth-story window and landed on Figlock’s head. Miraculously, the baby survived. While working less than a year later, Figlock was struck from above by another baby that fell from another fourth-floor window. Once more, Figlock’s head saved the life of the infant in peril. Figlock himself was uninjured in both incidents.
One Man Hosted the Beginning and End of the Civil War
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 is said to have later remarked, “The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.”
The Lincoln and Kennedy Assassinations Share Many Strange Similarities
Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are widely considered two of the greatest Presidents in U.S. history, and the coincidences surrounding their assassinations further link the two leaders. In fact, books have been written about them, and members of Congress have even discussed the topic. Both Presidents were killed on a Friday with their wives by their sides. Both were succeeded by men whose last name was Johnson (Andrew Johnson and Lyndon B. Johnson). There are also some parallels in the assassins: John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and was caught in a warehouse; Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy from a window in a book warehouse and was apprehended in a movie theater. What’s more, both Booth and Oswald were themselves killed before they could face justice. Not everyone agrees as to whether these similarities have a deeper meaning or no meaning at all, but at the end of the day, the sheer number of coincidences is quite surprising.
