"Coincidence", sounds simple right. You may say coincidences occur all the time. Yes I agree but some coincidences are so bizarre that it is extremely hard to believe. Here is a list of 18 extremely "hard to believe" coincidences that are good enough to give you a series of goosebumps:
1. The two disguised ships
During WWI, the British army turned a passenger ship, the RMS Carmania, into a battleship disguised as another passenger ship, the German SMS Trafalgar. The disguised ship sank a German ship 1914. That ship was the real Trafalgar, which the Germans had disguised to look like the British Carmania.
2. This is a bizarre one
In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead by those with whom he was playing poker. Fallon, had won the $600 pot through cheating. With Fallon’s seat empty and none of the other players willing to take the $600. A new player stepped forward to take Fallon’s place and staked him with the dead man’s $600. By the time the police had arrived to investigate the killing, the new player had turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. The police demanded the original $600 to pass on to Fallon’s next of kin only to discover that the new player turned out to be Fallon’s son, who had not seen his father in seven years. Wow!
3. History repeats itself
Hitler was born 129 years after Napoleon. He also came to power 129 years after Napoleon, invaded Russia 129 years after Napoleon, and was defeated 129 years after Napoleon.
4. Devil's birthplace
Hitler, Stalin and Franz Josef, who are collectively responsible for about 80 million deaths, all lived in Vienna at the same time.
5. He predicted the Titanic’s destiny
Morgan Robertson, in 1898, wrote “Futility”. It described the maiden voyage of a transatlantic luxury liner named the Titan. It was touted as being unsinkable. The ship strikes an iceberg and sinks with much loss of life. In 1912 the Titanic, a transatlantic luxury liner widely touted as unsinkable strikes an iceberg and sinks with great loss of life on her maiden voyage. In the Book, the Month of the Wreck was April, same as in the real event. There were 3,000 passengers on the book; in reality, 2,207. In the Book, there were 24 Lifeboats; in reality there were 20.
6. The fateful car
In September 1955, James Dean was killed in a horrific car accident while he was driving his Porsche sports car. When the car was towed away from accident scene and taken to a garage, the engine slipped out and fell onto a mechanic, shattering both of his legs. Eventually the engine was bought by a doctor, who put it into his racing car and was killed shortly afterwards during a race. Another racing driver, in the same race, was killed in his car, which had James Dean’s driveshaft fitted to it. The story gets even worse. When James Dean’s Porsche was later repaired, the garage it was in was destroyed by fire. Later the car was displayed in Sacramento, but it fell off it’s mount and broke a teenager’s hip. In Oregon, the trailer that the car was mounted on slipped from it’s towbar and smashed through the front of a shop. Finally, in 1959, the car mysteriously broke into 11 pieces while it was sitting on steel supports.
7. The faithful bullet
In 1883 Henry Ziegland broke up with his girlfriend and she was so distraught she committed suicide. The girl’s angry brother shot Henry in revenge, then turned the gun on himself. But the bullet had only grazed Henry’s face before lodging itself in a nearby tree. The bullet was stuck there. Some years later when Henry decided to chop down the tree. He used dynamite sticks to blow it up. The explosion propelled the bullet into his head and killed him. The bullet ultimately served it's purpose.
8. Twins separated at birth lives exactly similar lives
Separated at birth, a set of twins from Ohio each grew up knowing nothing of the other's existence. They were both named James after they were adopted, both grew up to be police officers and both marrying women named Linda. Wait the story gets weirder. They both had a son, one named James Alan and one named James Allan. They also each had a dog named Toy. They both got divorced, but later each remarried women named Betty.
9. The tomb of Tamerlane
On June 20, 1940, Soviet archaeologists uncovered the tomb of Tamerlane, a descendent of Genghis Khan. There was a warning that read "Whoever opens my tomb will unleash an invader more terrible than I." They opened it anyway and to their surprise Germany invaded the Soviet Union just two days later.
10. Did he know it?
When designing the landscape scenes for video game Deus Ex, one of the artists left out a major landmak of the New York City Skyline, the Twin Towers. A year later, the Twin Towers were actually demolished in the famous 9/11 terrorist attack. This game was made in 2000.
11. The very first and last victims of The Hoover Dam
During the construction of The Hoover Dam, the first worker to die was J.G. Tierny on December 20, 1922. The last person to die during it's construction was J.G. Tierny's son, who died on December 20, 1935.
12. Twins from different mothers
King Umberto I of Italy had a weird dining experience when he found that he and the owner of a restaurant at which he was eating were born on the same day in the same town and had both married a woman named Margherita. On July 29, 1900, the king learned that the restaurant owner had been shot and killed in the street. Later that day, the king was also assassinated. amazing isn't it?
13. Collision if the only two cars
There existed only two cars in the state of Ohio during 1895. You won't believe, they ran into each other.
14. The "Miss Unsinkable"
Violet Jessup was on the HMS Olympic when it struck the HMS Hawke, she was on the HMHS Britannic when it hit a mine. She was on the RMS Titanic. Jessup was actually a stewardess and nurse, so being on ships was her job. She'd be later known as "Miss Unsinkable." She survived all the fateful accidents.
15. The baby catcher
In 1937, street sweeper Joseph Figlock was cleaning an alley in Detroit when a baby boy fell from a fourth-storey window and landed on his head. The same day the next year, the same baby fell on him again at the same spot and Joseph was there to catch for the second time.
16. Twins are amazing
On May 22, 1975, twins John and Arthur Mowforth both suffered from heart attacks. Living 120 km apart, they were admitted to separate hospitals and were not aware of the other's condition. They both died shortly after.
17. This is "Mr. Unsinkable"
In 1660 when a ship sank off Dover the only survivor was called Hugh Williams. In 1767 another ship sank in the same spot and the sole survivor was called Hugh Williams. In 1820 a ship capsized on the Thames and the only man left alive was Hugh Williams. And in 1940 a German mine blew up a ship leaving two survivors, a man and his nephew both named Hugh Williams.
18. Flying cardiologists
In 2003 Dorothy Fletcher, suffered a heart attack on a flight to Florida for her daughter’s wedding. “Is there a doctor on board?” went the call. And 15 passengers all stepped forward. They were all heart specialists on their way to a conference in Orlando.