Tuesday, 29 January 2008

Coincidences

 

 

I thought you might like to read these.  I can`t vouch for them all being true but I did think they were interesting.

 

coincidence, unbelievable, boatLife can sometimes produce fascinating, extraordinary coincidences. Here are a few of the most amazing ones:

In 1975, a man riding a moped in Bermuda was accidentally struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, the man’s brother, riding the very same moped, was killed in the very same way by the very same taxi driven by the very same driver -- and carrying the very same passenger.

Twin brothers Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were separated at birth and adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both were named James, both owned a dog named Toy, both married women named Linda, both had a son they names James Alan, and both eventually divorced and got remarried to a woman named Betty.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and John Adams helped to edit and hone it. The Continental Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776. Both Jefferson and Adams died on July 4, 1826 -- exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

 

A German mother who photographed her infant son in 1914 left the film to be developed at a store in Strasbourg, but was unable to collect the film picture when World War I broke out. Two years later she bought a film plate in Frankfurt, over 100 miles away, and took a picture of her newborn daughter -- only to find, when developed, the picture of her daughter superimposed on the earlier picture of her son. The original film, never developed, had been mistakenly labeled as unused and resold.

 

In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead by fellow poker players who accused him of cheating to win a $600 pot. None of the other players were willing to take the now unlucky $600, so they found a new player to take Fallon’s place, who turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. At that point, the police arrived and demanded that the original $600 be given to Fallon’s next of kin -- only to discover that the new player was Fallon’s son, who had not seen his father in seven years.

 

In the 19th century, the famous horror writer Egdar Allan Poe wrote a book called ‘The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.’

 

It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventually the three senior members of the crew killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.

In 1930s Detroit, a man named Joseph Figlock was to become an amazing figure in a young (and, apparently, incredibly careless) mother’s life. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother’s baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby’s fall was broken and Figlock and the baby were unharmed. A year later, the same baby fell from the same window, again falling onto Mr. Figlock as he was passing beneath. Once again, both of them survived the event.

In 1973, actor Anthony Hopkins agreed to appear in “The Girl From Petrovka”, based on a novel by George Feifer. Unable to find a copy of the book anywhere in London, Hopkins was surprised to discover one lying on a bench in a train station. It turned out to be George Feifer’s own annotated (personal) copy, which Feifer had lent to a friend, and which had been stolen from his friend’s car.

In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I went to a small restaurant for dinner, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, General Emilio Ponzia-Vaglia. When the owner took King Umberto’s order, the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles, in face and in build. Both men began discussing the striking resemblance between each other and found many more similarities.

1. Both men were born on the same day, of the same year (March 14, 1844).
2. Both men had been born in the same town.
3. Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.
4. The restaurateur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.
5. On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restaurateur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, an anarchist in the crowd then assassinated him.

While American novelist Anne Parrish was browsing bookstores in Paris in the 1920s, she came upon a book that was one of her childhood favorites -- Jack Frost and Other Stories. She picked up the old book and showed it to her husband, telling him of the book she fondly remembered as a child. Her husband took the book, opened it, and on the flyleaf found the inscription: “Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs.” It was Anne’s very own book.

 

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spooky Sandra.  Isn't life amazing.  They say we all have a double somewhere as well.  I have never met mine.  I hope she has been having a better time the last few years than I have

http://journals.aol.co.uk/jeanno43/JeannettesJottings/

Anonymous said...

(((((((((((((((HUGSTOYOU))))))))))))))))))))I would say spooky is right,but,I love reading stuff like this.Truly amazing.

Anonymous said...

Sandra these storys are fantastic ,and very coincidental,though I didnt get why Edgar Allan Poes Story was entitled'The narative of Arthur Gordon Pym ,maybe thats erelevant and Im being thick lol ...love Jan xx

Anonymous said...

Interesting. Fact is stranger than fiction, wouldn't doubt that many of them are true.
Have a great week.
Hugz,
Sugar

Anonymous said...

I love these and I totally don't believe in coincidences, life is very interesting.  Have a great day, Joni

Anonymous said...

That is an eerie sequence of coincidences, Sandra. I'll reprint my railway ghost story ;-)

Anonymous said...

Amazing!  ~~Kath~~

Anonymous said...

I did find this fascinating thanks for sharing! (Hugs) Indigo

Anonymous said...

Very interesting factoids!
Love that kind of stuff!

           sunny

Anonymous said...

i liked reading all of those, HOW STRANGE!
LOVE, lisa

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed these while i drank my coffeee this morning and tried to wake up...;-)
Lyn

Anonymous said...

Hi Sandra~
Thank you for posting these interesting stories. I had no idea that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day, just hours apart. These are all very fascinating :)

Huggers,
Gayla

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing these...I found each one interesting for sure...hugs and love,
Joyce

Anonymous said...

I found these to be very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Helen

Anonymous said...

Very interesting . Love Joan
http://journals.aol.co.uk/jaymact1/JoansMusings/

Anonymous said...

Interesting :o)

Jenny

http://journals.aol.co.uk/Jmoqueen/MyLife

Anonymous said...

He Sandra I just popped in to congradulate you on your award from Jeanette...I have not popped by before. However your journal sounds and looks so interesting I hope you don't mind if I put you on my alerts.  best wishes   Sybil
http//jpurnals.ao.co./sybilsybil45/villagelife

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Sandra. Love Pam xx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/pamal3/almost-40/

Anonymous said...

WoW, that's all interesting to read.

Congratulations on the award!

Monica

Anonymous said...

I don't know how many of these are true, but I did hear the one about the twin brothers named Jim.  That one is true.  I was doing a research paper for school on twins.  It has been found that twins, even separated at birth, are very much alike.  Fascinating!

Krissy
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink

Anonymous said...

((((SANDRA))))!  SO nice to find you!  I've just put you back on alerts.  I'm back...;)  C.

Anonymous said...

<<GASP>>>> they're uncanny!  Have a nice weekend
love, Angie,xx

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your award and thank you for posting these interesting tales,have a good weekend .......love Jeanx