The woman who survived the Titanic and two other sinkings, the man who survived Bataclan and 9/11 and more coincidences that will blow your mind
WE’VE all experienced some freaky coincidences in our lives – but these historical happenings will blow your mind.
From the nurse who survived three disastrous ship sinkings to the separated twins who lived near identical lives, this collection of crazy chance incidents will send shivers up your spine.
Here, are the spookiest 11 coincidences from around the web.
1. The nurse who survived three disastrous ship sinkings
Some people are born lucky, Violet Constance Jessop is one of them.
Over the course of her career as an ocean liner stewardess, she survived the sinkings of HMS Olympia, RMS Titanic and her sister ship the HMHS Britannic.
The Argentinian nurse, who died in 1971, earned herself the nickname ‘Miss Unsinkable’.
2. The cyclist who cheated death twice after changing flights
Dutch cyclist Maarten de Jonge cheated death twice after changing his plans to fly on both the doomed Malaysia Airlines passenger jets, MH17 and MH370.
The 29-year-old, who was travelling around the world to compete for Malaysia’s Terengganu cycling team, swapped flights at the last minute after discovering that flying via Frankfurt would be cheaper.
3. The man who survived 9/11 and the Bataclan massacre
Fourteen years after surviving the 9/11 attack on New York, an American man living in Paris found himself caught up in the Islamic State massacre at the Bataclan theatre.
The 36-year-old, known only as Matthew, said was he went through in France was “1,000 times worse” than the Twin Towers tragedy.
And as well as history's greatest survivors, here are the other coincidences that will blow your mind.
4. The graves of the first and last soldiers from WWI are located opposite one another
The first and last British soldiers killed in World War I are buried in Belgium’s St Symphorien military cemetery.
The graves of Private John Parr, killed 17 days after the UK declared war, and Private George Ellison, who died 90 minutes before the armistice, are located just six metres apart and their headstones face one another.
This is a major coincidence considering the arrangement was not planned.
5. The separated twins who have almost identical lives
A set of male twins from Ohio who were separated at birth and grew up without any knowledge of each other have led almost identical lives.
They were both named James by their adoptive parents, worked as police officers and married women called Linda.
They both later got divorced and remarried women called Betty. They also each had sons called James Allan and a dog named Toy.
6. The music legends who were neighbours
Jimi Hendrix and George Frideric Handel both lived on Brook Street in London – albeit two centuries apart.
The American guitarist lived at number 23 while the German composer resided in flat 25.
7. The freaky similarities between Hitler and Napoleon
Adolf Hitler was born 129 years after Napoleon Bonaparte.
He came to power 129 years after the French military leader, invaded Russia 129 years after Napoleon and was defeated 129 years after the revolutionary figure.
8. The video game that predicted the Twin Towers tragedy
When designing the landscape scenes for video game Deus Ex, one of the artists accidentally left the Twin Towers out off the New York skyline.
To cover up the error, the game made up a story about a terrorist attack. It was made in 2000, a year before the real-life tragedy.
9. The lecturer who died after giving a speech on death
South African astronomer Daniel du Toit, 49, gave a speech in Johannesburg, Florida, with the theme ‘Death can come at any time’.
Right after finishing his lecture he choked to death on a peppermint sweet.
10. The three men who met on a train with the same name
Legend has it that in the 1920s three Englishmen met on a train in Peru.
The first man to enter the carriage was called Bingham, the second was Powell and, unbelievably, the third was named Bingham-Powell.
11. The writer who predicted his own death
American writer Mark Twain was born in 1835 when Halley’s Comet was passing the Earth.
It only passes once every 76 years or so.
The publisher predicted he would die on its next passing, saying 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.”
Mark died on the day it appeared in 1910.