Top 70 Creepiest REAL LIFE Coincidences

#69: Three Strangers with Interlinked Names

In the 1920s, three strangers encountered each other on a train. All three individuals would find over the course of time and interaction that they shared interconnected surnames.There was one Bingham, one Powell, and one Bingham-Powell in the trio. In a world that seldom produces intersections so perfect, the three men found themselves locked in a moment woven by genealogical threads and social proximity. Their chance meeting was orchestrated by pure coincidence but also illustrated the limits of randomness in our world. While an event may be mathematically unlikely, it does not directly translate to an impossibility, as in the case of Bingham, Powell, and Bingham-Powell.

#68: Two Riders Killed the Same Way

In July 1975, a man named Erskine Lawrence Ebbin was knocked off his motorcycle and killed in an accident in Hamilton, Bermuda. The man was struck by a taxi while driving on the road and died on the spot of the accident. One year earlier, another individual, also a motorcyclist, died on the same spot and in the same manner. Not only did Ebbin get hit by the same taxi, carrying the same passenger, he also rode the same motorcycle as the previous victim. The victim was none other than his brother Neville. And to stretch the tragic coincidence further, both brothers were 17 when they died.

#67: Childhood Photo Reveals Forgotten First Meeting

Disney World is the most magical place on Earth, or so they say. Alex and Donna, a soon-to-be married couple in the 2000s would certainly agree. While looking through old photos to put in their wedding video, the duo would come across a photograph of Donna and her siblings posing at Disney World in 1980. A closer look at the background of the image revealed a startling discovery. It was Alex, being pushed in a stroller by his father. Until that moment, neither couple had been aware of being at Disney World at the same time as kids and in the same photo. Returning to Disney World in 2010, the couple would recreate the photo with their own children.

#66: Jesus Saves - Literally

During Minnesota’s Twin Cities 10-mile race, runner Tyler Moon decided to wear a shirt reading “Jesus Saves.” His intent was to spread an uplifting message instead of displaying his name. Midway through the race, Tyler suffered a ventricular tachycardia. This caused his heart to stop. Collapsing onto the ground, Tyler fractured five of his facial bones, suffered a concussion and also scraped his knee. The real danger was his heart. Amazingly, a nurse named Jesus Bueno happened to be running right behind him. Jesus and a colleague immediately performed CPR for ten critical minutes, keeping Tyler alive until paramedics arrived. The improbable alignment of shirt, message, and rescuer made this a literal coincidence where Jesus saved.

#65: Unlucky Number

In Bulgaria, the phone number 0888-888-888 is infamous for its alleged association with its owner's death over a roughly five year period. The original holder died of cancer. Within a couple of years, the next owner - a mob figure - died from gang-related activities. And then a couple of years later, the next owner - also, coincidentally, an underworld figure - was gunned down. The repeated misfortunes over such a short period of time was reason enough for Bulgarian authorities to discontinue the number. One thing is for certain, this phone number is one to forget.

#64: Couple’s Parents Almost Married

One of the most important moments in many couples’ lives is when their parents meet for the first time. For Stephen and Helen Lee, that meeting turned out to be especially interesting. The engaged couple discovered that Stephen’s late father and Helen’s mother had almost married in Korea during the 1960s. A specific set of circumstances prevented their union. Decades later, their children’s engagement became an echo of history repeating itself in unexpected ways. Recounted by NPR’s “This American Life” the story of Stephen and Helen highlights how small decisions and chance encounters in one generation can have massive impacts on the next.

#63: Twins Died On the Same Day

Starting from the womb, twins share just about everything. This leads to a close bond unlike any other. Identical twins Helen Mae Cook and Clara Mae Mitchell were inseparable throughout their lives. Born in 1932, their bond did not waver with time and held strong until old age. Clara would pass from a heart attack at the age of 83 with Helen dying just hours later due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. The passing of the twins seems almost supernatural. Their intertwined ending on the same day offers a glimpse into the emotional and biological synchrony between people of extraordinary close bonds.

#62: Reunion with a Lifesaver

During a lecture at a New Jersey university, Royce Burton recounted a 1940 incident when as a Texas Ranger, he got lost in a canyon while on duty in the Rio Grande after dark. In his efforts to climb out, Burton lost his balance and nearly fell off a cliff but was rescued by another Texas Ranger. As he was narrating the story, a man named Joe walked into Burton’s classroom. Incredibly, it was the same Ranger who saved Burton during the incident, decades earlier. The moment left Burton and his students at a loss for words in a striking example of human paths crossing again under the most extraordinary or ordinary of circumstances.

#61: The Balloon Twins

A nine-year old girl named Laura Buxton in southern England released a balloon as part of a backyard experiment. That balloon traveled over 100 miles and eventually came into the hands of another girl. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, until it was found that this girl was also named Laura Buxton. The similarities didn’t end there. Both girls shared the same age, height, hair and eye color, and even pets. In what was an improbable convergence of genetics, environment, and a floating balloon, the Buxton girls astounded local residents in an event that served to illustrate how life often has strange ways of bringing people together.

#60: Mother & Professor Lived in Same House

Sometimes coincidences strike closer to home than you would expect. Amanda Birch’s story is one such event. She recounted a bizarre discovery during a class discussion for NPR’s “Hidden Brain” podcast. While talking to her writing professor, she realized that the latter had grown up in the exact same town as her own mother. Things got even stranger when Amanda discovered that the professor now lived in the same house where Amanda’s mother had spent her childhood. The discovery left the concerned parties speechless and demonstrated how ordinary life could almost feel scripted by fate itself.

#59: Turning Points

In June 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte faced his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. The aftermath was the end of his reign and a reshaping of Europe’s political landscape. Five decades later, in July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg would serve the same role as a turning point in the American Civil War, leading to the unraveling of the Confederacy. Both these battles are separated in time, but share a similarity in the alteration of history that occurred in their wake. One battle reshaped the political landscape of Europe, while the other set the stage for the birth of freedom in the United States of America. Something about summer seems to set the stage for historic reimaginings.

#58: Lincoln Dreamt His Death

Days before his assassination, Lincoln reportedly dreamt of his death. Accrding to one of his confidants, Lincoln shared a premonitory dream where he saw a coffin guarded by a soldier. He asked the soldier who was in the casket, only for the soldier to reply that it was the president and that he had been killed by an assassin. Lincoln did not sit on his dream for too long, as he said that it was not his own body that he saw in the casket. Ironically, a few days later, he would be shot dead by the now-infamous John Wilkes Booth while watching a play at Ford’s theater.

#57: China Syndrome

“The China Syndrome,” a film depicting the aftermath of a nuclear meltdown scenario, opened March 16, 1979. Twelve days later, an accident at the Three Mile Nuclear Island power plant would occur. Creepily enough, the film’s depiction of the nuclear accident mirrored the real-life partial meltdown at the The Three Mile Island plant. There was no actual causal link, but the near-perfect alignment of art and reality shocked the public. Nevertheless, there was good to the creepy coincidence, as the event and the film both significantly influenced the public’s perception about nuclear energy and safety.

#56: World War 1 Tree & Soldier

The bonds between a father and son are deep, and in the case of one World War I soldier, could be rooted in nature. In the Somme region of France, a British soldier was killed near a tree. The soldier’s death at this location was even more symbolic as the tree was planted by none other than his own father, many years ago, when he trained in the same regiment. The connection is a heart-rendering story of how coincidence and lineage can intertwine within the brutality of war. Representing both personal tragedy and the uncanny nature of history, the soldier’s resting place is a haunting memory of history repeating itself.

#55: Robert Lincoln Witnesses 3 Assassinations

Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of President Abraham Lincoln, carved out a unique legacy of his own, one that was built on astonishing coincidence. Robert was present at or near three presidential assassinations. This included his father’s as well as those of James Garfield and William McKinley. The odds of one individual being present during multiple such tragedies are astronomical. While each incident was separated by several years, fate seemed to deem Robert to also be available upon said dates. To this day, Robert’s story demonstrates how a single life can intersect repeatedly with tragic historical events.

#54: Ferrari’s Death & Ozil’s Birth

Enzo Ferrari passed away in 1988. A few weeks later, a football icon named Mesut Ozil was born. As Ozil grew up to become a legend on the field, many couldn’t help but notice the physical similarities between himself and the deceased Italian legend. Ozil’s uncanny resemblance with the legend made many fans claim their likeness to be the result of a massive coincidence or the proof of reincarnation. Combining two cultures with perfect timing, the overlap of Ferrari and Ozil, despite being unrelated, has captured the imagination of coincidence enthusiasts worldwide.

#53: Boat Finds Its Way Home

Sometimes the best way to deal with depression is to challenge yourself by getting something done. That is exactly what BBC presenter Niall Iain MacDonald decided to do when rowed 43 miles across a Scottish strait in an effort to raise mental health awareness. But Niall desired even more. He decided to row solo all the way from New York to Scotland. In 2018, Niall was able to make it a quarter of the way across the Atlantic before a storm laid waste to his plans. Rescued by a Dutch cargo ship, Niall abandoned his rowboat, “Alba.” Astonishingly, 15 months later, “Alba” washed ashore in South Uist near his mother’s childhood home, completing his journey on its own.

#52: Russian Spy

In a bizarre twist of life imitating fiction, author Norman Mailer included the character of a Russian spy in his novel “Barbary Shore.” But as the story unfolded, the character’s importance also expanded. Mailer would later learn that a real Russian spy of the name Colonel Rudolf Abel actually lived just one floor above him in his apartment building in New York City. Abel would later be arrested in what is one of the most unsettling coincidences in modern history. Mailer’s fictional creation and reality intertwined in a manner that has pushed literary scholars and spy enthusiasts alike to ask if Mailer was indeed already aware of Abel’s identity.

#51: Simpsons Predict Trump

“The Simpsons” has long been famous for being spot on with their predictions for real-life events. Among the many they had successfully made, none stands out more than their prediction of Donald Trump’s presidency. In 2000, an episode titled “Bart to the Future” depicted Lisa Simpson as president and amde referenc to Donald Trump having been president before her. In what was a “warning to America” the episode’s writer, Dan Greaney, said the fictional Trump presidency was a prediction consistent with America’s vision going insane. Viewers shrugged it off as a joke, but the reality became undeniable when Trump was elected President in 2016 and later successfully became re-elected for a second term in 2024.

#50: The Story of Xu Weifang

Despite a seemingly constant influx of bad news filtering into our media diet, it’s important to remember: the world is filled with unsung heroes. One such hero is Xu Weifang, a resident of Jiangsu Province in China. One day in 2018, Mr. Weifang happened upon an eight year old boy drowning in a river. Despite being 80 at the time - and having some pre-existing injuries from a fall - Mr. Weifang lept into action. He saved the boy, much to his family’s relief. The story would have ended there but for a truly bizarre bit of random chance: Mr. Weifang had saved the boy’s father from a nearly identical situation thirty years before.

#49: ‘til Death Do Us Part

Margaret and John Naylor were an Irish couple living in Dublin at the start of the 20th century. When World War I broke out, John left his family to join the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. John fought bravely on the battlefields and in the trenches of France. Unfortunately, John died in a gas attack in Hulluch on April 29th, 1916. Tragically, Margaret would never hear the news. On that same day back home in Dublin, civil unrest had boiled over in the Easter Week Rising. Irish republicans, rebelling against British rule, clashed with British soldiers. Margaret was shot at the crossfire on Ringsend Drawbridge, lying wounded for hours before anyone helped her. She died in hospital several days later, orphaning their three children.

#48: Nebraska Church Explosion

Sometimes, an event takes place that seems due to divine intervention. One such near-catastrophe took place in Beatrice, Nebraska on March 1st, 1950. It was a chilly evening, so the reverend of West Side Baptist Church lit the furnace to warm up choir practice. He went home for dinner. He was late for the 7:15 practice because his daughter’s dress needed to be clean. Every member of the choir had similarly mundane and random reasons to show up late that night. From car trouble, to problems with math homework, to plain old laziness, all 15 church members were late. As it turned out, that tardiness saved their lives. At the time choir practice was supposed to start, the furnace exploded, collapsing the building.

#47: The "My Way” Killings

The Philippines saw a truly bizarre series of violent incidents between 2000 and 2012. Though they were seemingly unconnected, there was one through line: they were all responses to karaoke performances of Frank Sinatra's song "My Way." These incidents often occurred in bars and karaoke clubs where patrons would sing the song, provoking assaults and murders. The reasons behind the violent reactions are varied. Some were disputes over off-key renditions. One theory is that the song’s lyrics lend themselves to perceived arrogance by the singers. Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars in the Philippines removed "My Way" from their song lists. By the end of the phenomena, at least six people had been killed.

#46: Left Handed Presidents

According to studies, nine out of every ten people are right handed. One would think, then, that subgroups of people would reflect a similar distribution. When it comes to American presidents, though, that assumption would be incorrect. Of the fourteen U.S. Presidents since the end of the Second World War, six of them - or 42% - have been left-handed. Biologists and psychologists have actually tackled this esoteric topic in academic articles. Theories abound. Some think it has to do with their more dominant right brain hemispheres. Others think that southpaws develop levels of creativity and divergent thinking ideal for politicians. Whatever the reason, the number of lefty presidents seems too high to be a mere coincidence.

#45: Thomas Lawson and Friday the 13th

Thomas W. Lawson was a stockbroker in London who wrote a novel in 1907, "Friday the Thirteenth." It was the tale of another British stockbroker who attempted to crash the market on a Friday the 13th. The book was a smash hit, forever linking that day with bad luck in the stock market. Two years later, a schooner named the Thomas W. Lawson was making her first transatlantic trip. It was named after a different Lawson, but the connection is incredibly eerie. On the night of December 13, 1907 - a Friday - the schooner sailed into a terrible storm. She sank in the wee hours of the morning, the 17 souls aboard lost at sea.

#44: Battle of the Carmanias

During World War I, some private shipping companies saw their vessels commandeered by their respective governments. Many such ships were transatlantic steamers and merchant vessels, retrofitted into battleships. Germany requisitioned the vessel Cap Trafalgar, painting her to look like the British merchant ship the RMS Carmania. The plan was to use her as a Judas goat, luring allied vessels into their demine. Unfortunately, on September 14, 1914, the Cap Trafalgar happened to run into the actual RMS Carmania, ruining the ruse. It was a ferocious battle - the first ever to take place between ocean liners. The real Carmania won out, sinking her doppelganger.

#43: The Double Survivor

September 11th, 2001 was the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. There are many stories from survivors about how fickle twists of fate saved their lives. One such person was a man named Matthew, who came face-to-face with fate not once, but twice in his life. Matthew was passing the Twin Towers at the time, on his way to a business meeting. Fourteen years later, Matthew was in Paris, enjoying a show at the Bataclan theater. Terrorists entered the club shooting dozens upon dozens of the concert goers. Matthew was one of those shot, though he survived by slowly crawling to safety. It’s hard to gauge the quality of Matthew’s luck, having barely survived two separate terrorist attacks.

#42: Megalith Construction

The world is littered with megaliths, stone constructs created by our ancient ancestors. Those who built them would have no connection to one another. Yet some of their constructs - separated both by distance and time - appear to form straight lines. Starting in the 1920s, amateur historians and archaeologists (as well as occultists) have posited connections between these ancient sites and natural landmarks. These amateur sleuths began to call these pathways ley lines. Some believe that ley lines mark paths of electromagnetic power that encircle the earth. While there is no evidence to prove the existence of ley lines, it's hard to deny the coincidence that many - though certainly not all - megaliths seem to be built along gridlike lines.

#41: Capitol Hill Saved by a Tornado

Though The War of 1812 ostensibly ended in a draw, it also saw the White House get burned by British soldiers. One could argue, though, that the seat of the nascent American Republic - Capitol Hill - was saved by an act of providence. On August 25, 1814, as the redcoats marched on Washington, the heat was surging to 100 degrees. As the city burned, a cold front clashed with the flames and summer heat. Thunder clashed, rain poured down, and a tornado formed in the middle of the city. The funnel made a b-line towards the British, destroying cannons and battle lines alike. The British abandoned the city, damaging but unable to burn down Capitol Hill.

#40: Flight 666 Flew into HEL on Friday the 13th.

Airports around the world are represented by three-letter codes. The code for Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, the primary airport of Finland’s capital, is HEL. Finavia, the airport’s owner, has had fun with the initials. In October of 2017, they had a PR campaign, #lifeinhel. It was a mixed media campaign, with TV and online content. They even had a well-known Chinese actor spend a month living at the airport. Three days after the launch of the campaign, on Friday the 13th, Finnair’s regular flight 666 from Copenhagen flew straight to HEL. There was no bad luck to be found, but what a way to tempt fate.

#39: November 9: The German “Day of Fate”

Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Germans know that Twain was right. Dating back to 1848, many history-shaping events of German history all occurred on the same day. November 9th is so significant in Germany, they have a name for it: Schicksalstag, or the “Day of Fate.” On November 9th, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the throne, ending the 500 year reign of Haus Hohenzollern. Just a few years later, Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch ended on November 9th, 1923, launching his political career. In 1938, on November 9th, the S.S. launched Kristallnacht: a violent pogrom against the nation’s Jewry. It’s not all dark history, however. November 9th, 1989 saw the fall of the Berlin Wall.

#38: The Graves of the First and Last WWI Casualties Face Each Other

World War I was the bloodiest war in the history of England. The Battle of the Somme, for instance, claimed more British lives than every single post-WWII British battle combined. The nation lost 6% of its total male population to the war. Many of those fallen soldiers rest in the St Symphorien Military Cemetery. However, there is an odd and unplanned coincidence with their graves. The first British casualty of the war was a young man named John Parr. The last was thirty-year-old George Edwin Ellison. Parr and Ellison both lie at St. Symphorien, seven yards apart and facing one another. Their graves act as somber bookends to a tragic chapter in their nation’s history.

#37: The Civil War Began and Ended on the Same Man’s Property

The first shots of the American Civil War rang out at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. It wasn’t a battle, per se. There were only eighty-five defenders and the few casualties came from an accident during the surrender. The first pitched battle occurred later with the First Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia. It was named for a stream that ran through the farmland of a grocer named Wilmer McLean. The battle was fierce and bloody, revealing to the country just how horrific a protracted war on American soil would become. After the battle, McLean fled his home to find safety. He moved to Appomattox, Virginia. Four years later, Robert E. Lee incidentally surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of McLean’s Appomattox home.

#36: Major Summerford Defied the Odds in the Worst Way Imaginable

Walter Summerford, a British major during World War I, was sent home from the front in Belgium in 1918. He wasn’t hit by a bullet or a mortar shell: Summerford was struck by lightning. He was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down and sent back home. Six years later, while fishing in a local river, Summerford was struck by lightning for a second time. Again, Summerford had to rehabilitate from temporary paralysis. Fast forward another six years and the major’s luck ran out. He was hit by lightning a third time during a stroll in the park. He struggled for two years in a hospital bed before succumbing. Four years after that, his tombstone was struck by lightning. That’s four strikes, one every six years.

#35: The Commettes Hit by a Meteor

There is a reason why meteors are incredibly valuable. Many meteoroids break up in the atmosphere after hurtling through space for millions or billions of years. According to National Geographic, the chances of getting hit by a meteor are approximately 1 in 1.6 million. In 2011, one meteoroid fell to earth and landed on a house in France. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. This sort of event was newsworthy thanks to its unlikelihood alone. However, there is an odd wrinkle to this particular story. The home was owned by the Comette family.

#34: Anthony Hopkins and The Girl from Petrovka

In the early 1970s, Anthony Hopkins’s career was stalling. He hoped to jump start it with an audition for “The Girl from Petrovka,” an adaptation of an American novel. Hopkins was desperate for a break and wanted to be as prepared as possible. He frantically searched for the novel but learned it wasn’t yet available in the UK. Despondent, he went to the subway and sat on a bench to wait for the train. He noticed a bound manuscript on the bench next to him: one for the exact book he was searching for. He got the part, and a year later met the author on set in Vienna. He then learned that the author had lost that same copy in a stolen car.

#33: The Curse of “The Omen”

Horror movies like “The Exorcist” are famous for having productions plagued with creepy tragedies. Few such movies appear to be as cursed as 1976’s “The Omen.” Both before and after the film, the cast and crew began to suffer strange accidents. Star Gregory Peck’s son took his own life after Peck took the role. Special effects guru John Richardson oversaw the film’s death scenes. On his next gig, he and his girlfriend were in a car crash where she died in a manner similar to one death in “The Omen.” Both screenwriter David Seltzer and executive producer Mace Neufeld were on airplanes struck by lightning. It’s hard to discount the possibility that the film was, in fact, cursed.

#32: Stephen Hawking’s Birthday and Death Day

Stephen Hawking was one of the most famous physicists and cosmologists of the 20th and 21st centuries. He built on the work of astronomers and mathematicians going all the way back to Galileo. He deepened our understanding of the Big Bang, black holes, and time. Coincidentally, Hawking was somewhat famously born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death. Adding to the creepy and bizarre symmetry, Hawking died on the birthday of Albert Einstein. It was as if the universe was determined to inextricably link three men responsible for our understanding of the cosmos.

#31: John Wilkes Booth’s Brother Saved Abraham Lincoln’s Son

Robert Todd Lincoln, the only of the President’s children to outlive his parents, himself had a long and storied career. Lincoln was at one time the Secretary of War as well as the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. That may never have happened if it weren’t for the intervention of a good samaritan. Lincoln was in New Jersey waiting for a train in the middle of a crowd. He slipped and fell onto the platform. Thankfully, an onlooker managed to pull Lincoln back onto the platform in time to avoid the oncoming train. That man was Edwin Booth, brother to the man who would ultimately kill Lincoln’s father, John Wilkes Booth.

#30: The Beginning and End of LIFE

Life Magazine helped define popular American culture in the 20th century. It was ubiquitous, on the shelves of every magazine stand, waiting room, and grocery checkout in the country. The first issue of the magazine as we currently know it was published on November 23, 1936. The first interior photo in the magazine’s history was a picture of a baby being cradled by his doctor after being delivered. The caption read “Life Begins.” That baby was George Story, who himself ultimately grew up to become a journalist. Decades later, on April 4th 2000, Life magazine announced that it would stop publication. Story died of heart failure a few days later.

#29: A Dutch Cyclist and Plane Crash Dodger

Maarten de Jonge is a former professional cyclist from Holland. His career peaked in 2014 with a first-place win in Stage 4 of the Tour of Thailand. What makes de Jonge’s life remarkable is not his career. Instead, he’s known for his shockingly good luck. The same year de Jonge won the aforementioned race, two separate Malaysia Airlines flights crashed. One - Flight 370 - went missing. The other, Flight 17, was shot down over Ukraine by Russia. De Jonge was allegedly planning to be on both flights. In the case of Flight 370, he decided to take a flight earlier in the day. With Flight 17, he ultimately chose a cheaper flight home.

#28: Bruce and Brandon Lee in “Game of Death” and “The Crow”

Despite Bruce Lee’s incredible fitness, he died suddenly at the age of thirty-two due to an allergic reaction to painkillers. Lee was in the middle of a movie production, filming “Game of Death.” The film was rewritten and partially reshot with a double in order to finish. In one scene, a prop master on a film set explains to a group of extras how to use a prop gun. One of them replaces a blank with a real bullet to try and kill Lee’s character. The scenes are eerily reminiscent of the death of Lee’s son Brandon decades later. While shooting “The Crow,” Brandon Lee died when a prop gun was misloaded. That film, too, was recut and partially reshot in order to finish.

#27: Hitler and Napoleon

In all of history, only Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler came close to conquering all of Europe. What is creepy is that their lives, rises to power, and falls mirror each other incredibly well. Separated by 120-130 years, their journeys were strikingly similar. Both were born in a country different from the one they would come to rule. Both seized power in a former superpower weakened by defeat in a previous war. They both utilized shockingly effective new military tactics to quickly conquer their neighbors, leaving England isolated and alone. Each leader was weakened by resistance movements in the territories they conquered. Ultimately, they were each undone by a poorly conceived invasion of Russia, each defeated by the bitter cold.

#26: Did Shakespeare Help Write the King James Bible?

By the time King James took the throne of England, his predecessor Queen Elizabeth had successfully established the Church of England as the national faith. Members of the church asked that a new, standardized English translation of the bible be commissioned. James jumped on the task, approving a team of 47 scholars to write it. The task was completed in 1611.There is, however, an oddity that has led to a novel conspiracy theory: William Shakespeare was secretly a co-author. The 46th word of Psalm 46 is ‘shake,’ while the 46th from the last word in that Psalm is “spear.” Shakespeare happened to turn 46 in 1611. Did the playwright secretly put his stamp on the book but slipped it past the King?

#25: Johannes Kepler’s Erroneous Interpretation of Galileo Led to a Major Discovery

Astronomy and astrophysics are disciplines that require patience over generations and centuries. Every scientist in those fields is limited by the technology of their times. They work in the hope that future generations will build on their progress. So it was with Galileo Galilei while observing Saturn’s rings. He sent letters out announcing his discovery, with this strange message: “SMAISMRMILMEPOETALEUMIBUNENUGTTAUIRAS.” For whatever bizarre reason, he hid his discovery in an indecipherable anagram. Johannes Kepler was the recipient of one of those letters. He thought it read “salve, umbistineum geminatum Martia proles.” That means “be greeted, double-knob, children of Mars.” He thought Galileo discovered two moons around Mars. While he misinterpreted the message, he was actually correct: Mars does have two moons, Phobos and Deimos.

#24: JFK May Have Predicted His Own Assassination

On November 22, 1963, all of the United States came to a standstill with the news that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. Nine years later, two of his closest friends and aides wrote a memoir about JFK titled “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye.” In that book, authors David Powers and Kenneth O’Donnell describe the events of that November morning. Jackie Kennedy had seen an anti-JFK ad in a local newspaper that was designed to resemble a funeral notice. It shook her terribly. The president allegedly responded, “We’re heading into nut country today. But Jackie, if somebody wants to shoot me from a window with a rifle, nobody can stop it, so why worry about it?”

#23: The Hoover Dam Tragedies

The Hoover Dam was one of the greatest American engineering marvels of the 20th century. At the time, it was the largest hydro-electric plant on Earth. Even today, it provides electricity for over one million Americans in three states. Construction took five years between 1931 and 1936, but plans for the dam began in the early 1920s. It was a massive undertaking, and one that ultimately cost the lives of 112 men. The second death associated with the dam occurred on December 20th, 1922, when surveyor John Gregory Tierney drowned in the Colorado River. The final death occurred exactly thirteen years later on December 20th, 1935. The man who died that day was Tierney’s son, Patrick.

#22: Predicting Pearl Harbor

Mere weeks leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, a peculiar set of advertisements for a board game ran in the New Yorker that sparked a short lived conspiracy theory. The ad was for a game called the “Deadly Double,” and in hindsight was filled with what seemed to be warnings for the aerial strike. The word “warning” was written on the promotion itself, and featured an illustration of people playing the dice game in an air-raid bunker. Arguably the strangest synchronicity was the numbers on two of the dice being “12” and “7”-- corresponding to the date of the attack. The theory was investigated, but it was revealed that these ads truly were nothing more than coincidences.

#21: One Man Survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was a Japanese draftsman for Mitsubishi. In the summer of 1945, he was on an extended business trip to Hiroshima. On August 6th, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city. Yamaguchi saw the plane fly by and drop the bomb. He was lucky - while he suffered severe burns, he survived in a shelter with colleagues. The next day, he returned to his home city of Nagasaki. Three days after surviving a nuclear bomb, Yamaguchi was at work describing the experience to his boss when the second bomb fell. He was again far enough away from the blast to survive, suffering radiation poisoning with a week-long fever. He died at the age of ninety-three in 2010.

#20: Karma Kills

Many relationships end on a sour note, but they rarely result in the deaths of three people. Legend has it that in the late 19th century, Henry Ziegland broke up with his girlfriend, who killed herself as a result. Her brother hunted Ziegland down and shot him, ending his own life immediately after. Ziegland was not killed by the shot, however: the bullet barely missed him and came to rest in a nearby tree. Years later, Ziegland attempted to blow up the tree, only to have the blast propel the bullet into his head, killing him.

#19:The Erdington Murders

On May 27th, 1817, the body of a 20-year old local woman named Mary Ashford was found with signs of trauma in the suburb of Erdington in Birmingham, England. The man she’d been out with the previous evening, Abraham Thornton, was deemed the prime suspect. Due to a lack of evidence and a strong alibi, he was ultimately found not guilty, leaving the crime unsolved. Flash forward 157 years to 1974, and Erdington was struck by a nearly identical crime. Another 20 year old woman was found dead after having gone missing, like Mary Ashford, on the Christian holiday Whit Monday. The last person to see her? A man with the same last name, Michael Ian Thornton. He too was found not guilty.

#18: The Cases of Catherine Eddowes & Mary Kelly

On the evening of September 29th in 1888 London, a woman by the name of Catherine Eddowes was taken into custody for being drunk in the streets. The police, however, didn’t learn her real identity until after the fact, as she gave them a fake one during her stay in the drunk tank - that of Mary Kelly. If either of those names ring a bell, it’s because they both went on to meet the same grisly fate at the hands of Jack the Ripper. Eddowes was killed shortly after being released from custody. She was his second to last victim and one of only two to have her face mutilated. The other was none other than the real Mary Kelly, the Ripper’s last known victim.

#17: The Jim Twins

Let’s discuss a coincidence that, while nonetheless odd, does have a notably happier ending! Twins James “Jim” Lewis and James “Jim” Springer were separated shortly after birth and adopted by different families. They grew up without any contact with one another. When they finally did meet at the age of 39, the similarities between their lives proved downright uncanny. As children, they both had dogs named “Toy” and excelled in math and woodworking. As adults, they both were married twice, first to women named Linda, then to women named Betty. When they had sons, they both named them James Alan. They were both smokers, drove Chevies, and even chose to vacation at the same Florida beach!

#16: The King’s Double

For protection, many kings use body doubles. Apparently, King Umberto I of Italy came upon his own double by accident. While eating dinner at a small restaurant, Umberto noticed that the restaurant owner was nearly identical in looks to himself. But they soon discovered more similarities. They were both born in the same town on the same day in the same year, they both married a woman named Margherita, and the owner had opened his restaurant on the same day as Umberto was crowned King. Wait, it gets weirder: the day after the pair met, on July 29th, 1900, the owner was killed in an accidental shooting – the same day that Umberto was assassinated.

#15: James Dean's Car

Actor and icon James Dean died tragically at the tender age of 24. In addition to acting, Dean was passionate about cars to the point that he was contemplating venturing into professional racing. Unfortunately, on September 30th, 1955, his dreams were brought to a screeching halt when he got into a fatal accident on his way to a race in his brand new Porsche 550 Spyder. As is often the case with celebrity cars, the Spyder and its parts have since changed hands multiple times over, but they seem to bring bad luck to everyone they touch. The car’s engine has been involved in a number of subsequent accidents (one fatal), and the drivetrain another. A building where the car was stored caught fire.

#14: Two Finnish Brothers

They say that twins have an incredibly strong bond and often know what the other is thinking, feeling or doing. These two Finnish brothers took that bond to a whole other level in 2002, when both died on the same road in separate accidents within hours of each other. The first brother died when he was hit by a truck while riding his bike. The second brother died two hours later under the exact same circumstances, about 1.5 kilometers from the spot where his brother had been killed earlier.

#13: The Mysterious Monk

Frustrated with life and depressed, painter Joseph Aigner attempted to end his life on multiple occasions – once when he was 18, and once when he was 22. But, according to Ripley’s Believe It or Not, he was stopped both times by the same Capuchin monk. When he was 30, Aigner was sentenced to death for his political activities, but was again saved by the monk, who intervened on his behalf. Eventually, Aigner was successful, and killed himself with a pistol when he was 68-years-old. The funeral ceremony was conducted by – you guessed it – the exact same Capuchin monk, whose name Aigner had never even learned.

#12: Falling Baby

Raining cats and dogs is one thing. But babies?! One day in 1937, Detroit street sweeper Joseph Figlock was hit on the head by a baby who’d tumbled from a fourth floor window. Fortunately, Figlock broke the baby’s fall; while both were injured, the baby lived. A year later, Figlock was going about his business, sweeping in an alleyway, when ANOTHER child, this time a two-year old, fell from the sky. Right onto Figlock! Once again, Figlock unwittingly saved the day. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Twice!

#11: A Painting That Predicted Hitler’s Evil

Before getting involved in politics and becoming one of the greatest monsters in human history, Hitler had aspirations as a painter. Even after abandoning these, however, he remained passionate about the arts, and this painting is said to have been one of his favorites. Painted by Franz von Stuck, an artist Hitler long admired, “The Wild Chase” is a gloomy and foreboding work that von Stuck just so happened to complete in 1889 - the year of Hitler’s birth. The painting depicts Wotan, a Germanic god, leading the mythic “wild hunt” followed by an army of the dead. Wotan bears a striking resemblance to Hitler and many retrospectively see this painting as having predicted his rise to power and bloody legacy.

#10: The Cannibalized Boy

One of the greatest authors of the 19th century, Edgar Allan Poe, wrote a book titled “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.” The book depicted four shipwreck survivors who eventually killed and ate a boy named Richard Parker. Several years after the publication of Poe’s story, a yacht called the Mignonette sank and left four survivors stranded at sea. The three older survivors eventually killed and ate the cabin boy – whose name was Richard Parker.

#9: Thomas Jefferson & John Adams

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were two of the most important players in the founding of the United States. Both played a large role in the creation and signing of the Declaration of Independence, which was eventually approved on July 4th, 1776. Although their relationship deteriorated over the years, they eventually reconciled, and oddly, died on the exact same day. That day? July 4th, 1826, exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration.

#8: Aztec Prediction of Cortez

In the early 16th century, the Aztec Empire was at the peak of its prosperity under Motecuzoma II. In 1519 however, an ancient and deadly prophecy seemingly came true, bringing unimaginable destruction to this awe-inspiring civilization. According to local legend, Quetzalcoatl, described as being bearded and of white skin, would one day return from his travels to once again stake his claim over the Aztec people. The predicted date on the Mayan calendar just so happened to coincide with the year when the Spanish conquistadors arrived, led by the bearded and white-skinned Hernán Cortés.

#7: 27 Club

The 27 Club refers to a group of famous people – mainly musicians – who have died at the age of 27. It started in the late 1960s when Rolling Stone Brian Jones, Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix all died at this age. Two and a half decades later, Kurt Cobain took his life at 27, and recently, Amy Winehouse died from substance use disorder issues at the age of 27. Winehouse actually stated years earlier that she was worried about dying at 27. All in all, the club has claimed over 60 artists, musicians and actors since the start of the 20th century.

#6: Mark Twain & Halley’s Comet

Mark Twain was born on November 30th, 1835 – just two weeks after Halley’s Comet was visible on Earth. Twain, who was the author of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” seemed to strongly associate with this celestial event. In fact, he famously declared: “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 has said, no doubt: Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.” He died on April 21st, 1910 – one day after the comet had returned.

#5: Violet Jessup (AKA “Miss Unsinkable”)

This Irish Argentine stewardess had a knack for being at the WRONG place at the WRONG time . . . but somehow emerging unscathed. Violet Jessop was working aboard the RMS Olympic when it collided with British warship HMS Hawke in 1911. The Olympic had to limp back to port. However, that was just a taste of things to come. Jessop was also aboard the Titanic when it sank in 1912. And the HMHS Britannic, which sank in 1916 due to a sudden explosion, later revealed to have been a mine. This earned Jessop the nickname “Miss Unsinkable.” We’re thinking that with her luck, she was either the best person to stay close to aboard a ship . . . or maybe a reason to change ships entirely.

#4: Did The License Plate Number Of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's Car Hold A Secret Message

As most historians agree, the first World War - which would go on to last four years and claim the lives of millions - all began with the death of one man. On June 28th, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed by Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalists. War soon followed, drawing in an ever-widening network of allies into what became a global conflict. No one had any clue when or how it would end, with one possible exception - a license plate. When looking for answers, it typically pays to go back to where it all started. Sure enough, the very car in which Franz Ferdinand was murdered contained a prediction. His license plate was “A II II 18” which many retroactively read as “Armistice - 11th November, 1918”.

#3: Tamerlane's Tomb

In June of 1941, Russian anthropologists, led by Mikhail Gerasimov, conducted a dig at the site at the Gur-e-Amir. This mausoleum was the final resting place of Tamerlane, a Turko-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire, and was thought to be responsible for the death of up to 17 million people as a result of his deadly campaigns. Depending on who you ask however, he may have upped the body count post-mortem. Inside his casket, the anthropologists reportedly found the inscription “Whomsoever opens my tomb will unleash an invader more terrible than I." They went ahead and opened the tomb anyway, and three days later, Operation Barbarossa began. This Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union was the largest in human history.

#2: The Titan & the Titanic

In 1898, Morgan Robertson published a novella entitled “Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan.” The plot revolved around the HMS Titan, a British luxury liner that hit an iceberg and sank while crossing the northern Atlantic. Of course, in 1912, the Titanic sank in a similar fashion, and that’s where things get bizarre. Both ships were considered unsinkable, both hit an iceberg in the month of April approximately 400 miles from Newfoundland, both were approximately 800 feet long, and both resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 people. The lack of lifejackets and lifeboats was also a serious problem for both ships – tragically so for the real life Titanic.

#1: JFK & Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln and JFK were elected to congress 100 years apart in 1846 and 1946 respectively. They then both became president 14 years later in 1860/1960. Both were killed by fatal gunshot wounds to the head, and succeeded by men named Johnson who, wouldn’t you know it… just so happened to be born 100 years apart. Add to that some other coincidences like them dying on Friday, their family names containing seven letters, and the fact that they were both famous for their civil rights efforts, and you’ve got two presidents cut from an eerily similar cloth.

What else do you think is proof that sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe for more strange stories.