Life is a constant cycle of repeats. History will always find a way to circle back and try again. It's the purest definition of insanity; trying the same thing over and expecting different results. Or many times without trying history will repeat in eerie ways. Coincidence is a strange thing. Is it divine intervention? Possibly. There are unexplainable events that happen that mimic prior moments. Those are the times we have to believe life has a plan. Right?
Redditor u/SealingBat wanted us to be aware of some history by asking... What has been the most incredible coincidence in history?
Twins....
What about the twin brothers back in the 70's. One was hit and killed on a moped by a taxi driver. Almost a year to the day later, the other brother was hit and killed on the same moped by the same driver carrying the same passenger. That's some coincidental stuff. ihasfip
Wrong Number....
A mate's dad, a lawyer, once dialed the number of a client, a doctor. A woman answered, sounded a little confused, but said that yes, Dr [name] was there. When the doctor came on the line he sounded a little confused too but they discussed the case. At the end of the call, the doctor said, "By the way, how did you get this number?" -"You gave it to me!" said my mate's dad. "No I didn't ... I'm on a house call." The lawyer reads back the number ... they realize he had misdialed. shallowblue
Follow the balloon...
GiphyWhen I was in 4th grade the entire class released helium balloons with our information and some instructions to write a letter to the school ..."Where did you find the balloon?" - "What did you think when you found it?" etc..
Days later the class started getting them back, some from a mile or two away, some the next town over. As time went on the letters started coming from farther/cooler places.
It was about 2 months in and mine still hadn't returned. Finally it did... I was so pumped that it may have been from another country or something crazy.. it landed in the yard directly behind the school. The old man who found it basically took the letter as opportunity to complain about the noise and garbage the school brings to his property. I was so disappointed. AdeleBeckham
Writer's Premonition...
In 2011, Mikey Welsh, former Weezer bassist, tweeted "Dreamt I died in Chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep) Need to write my will today."
He died the next weekend in his hotel room in Chicago. Heart attack in his sleep. WhipCityUrchin
To be fair, it was a heart attack induced by a heroin overdose. Dondervuist
No more Italiano...
There's a whole thing with the king of Italy meeting his doppelgänger. They had a ton of life experiences that were identical (family names, birthday, home locations). They got murdered the same day. Victor Emmanuel II, for anyone that wants to look it up. PoorEdgarDerby
Mother Nature is Ornery...
GiphyPirates stopping just a single ship containing 1 kg standard weight intended for Thomas Jefferson may very well be the ultimate reason that the US does not use the metric system.
The coincidence is simply bad weather. Had weather been fairer for that ship, it would not have gotten blown off course into the Caribbean, and therefore not stopped by pirates and likely would have made it to the US. goat-worshiper
BOOM!!!
West End Baptist Church Incident :
"Between 1920 and 1950, Martha Paul was the stern choir director at West End Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska. She demanded punctuality in her choir members; they all had to be at church at 7:25pm for practice. In the past, they had arrived on time with very few exceptions. However, on the night of March 1, 1950, they all were delayed for various reasons as they readied to leave for practice."
Marilyn Ruth Klempl, the pastor's daughter, spilled food on her dress and her mother needed to iron a new one. Herbert Kipf was trying to get a letter in the mail on time. He planned to be a few minutes late, deciding that he could drop it off on the way to practice. Lucille Jones was too busy listening to a radio program and was late along with Dorothy Wood, whom she was supposed to pick up.
Royena Estes and her sister, Sadie, were late because their car wouldn't start. Joyce Black, who lived across the street from the church, was ready but too tired to get up. LaDonna Vandergrift was having trouble with a geometry problem. Mrs. Leonard Schuster would've ordinarily arrived at 7:20 with her daughter, Susan. But on this particular evening, she had to go to her mother's house to help her get ready for a missionary meeting.
Because his wife was away, Harvey Ahl was taking care of his two sons. He was going to take them to practice with him but somehow he got wound up talking. When he looked at his watch, he saw that he was already late. Marilyn Paul, the pianist, had planned to arrive half an hour early. However, she fell asleep after dinner, and when her mother awakened her at 7:15, she only had time to tidy up and start out.
Martha Paul, the choir director and Marilyn's mother, was simply late because Marilyn was. She had tried unsuccessfully to awaken her earlier. At 4:30pm, Walter Klempl, the pastor, turned on the heat to warm the church and departed. Instead, it filled with gas and exploded at 7:27pm, two minutes after practice was supposed to begin. However, since none of the members had arrived, not a single one was harmed in the explosion in what was deemed an incredible coincidence or an extreme miracle.
From: This sourcesummerset
Strike and Kill!
After his sister's suicide, a man vowed revenge on Harry Ziegland, the suitor who had broken his sister's heart, prompting her to take her life. The brother shot at Ziegland, who fell to the ground. Believing his task done, the brother shot and killed himself with the same gun. However, the bullet meant for Ziegland did not strike him. Instead, it lodged itself into a nearby tree. Three years later, Ziegland was working to clear that same location and used dynamite to remove the tree. The explosion sent the bullet flying -- striking and killing Ziegland NuttyWizard
Disaster!!
In 1898, Morgan Robertson wrote a fiction novel called "Futility."
It features a large, luxurious ocean liner named "Titan" which strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sinks, claiming a large majority of her passengers.
14 years later, the Titanic strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sinks after hitting an iceberg, a large majority of her passengers dying in the frigid waters.
The similarities are uncanny:
- Both ships were ~800 feet long
- Both ships displaced roughly ~45,000 tons
- Both ships had 3 screws
- Both ships did not have enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew
- Both ships struck an iceberg and sank in the month of April
- Both ships struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic, both were 400 nautical miles from Newfoundland
- Both ships struck the iceberg on their starboard side
It's incredible. thewaiting28
The BBC is always one up on us....
GiphyThe Dennis the Menace coincidence. Two cartoon characters, one in the UK, the other in the USA. Both released in print format in March 1951. Neither creator knew of the other's existence, neither character was plagiarized from the other.
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/04/the-curious-tale-of-dennis-the-menace
Seeing Doubles....
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 resemblances between each other and found many more similarities.
- Both men were born on the same day, of the same year, (March 14th, 1844).
- Both men had been born in the same town.
- Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.
- The restauranteur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.
- On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restauranteur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, he was then assassinated by an anarchist in the crowd. unnamed887
Baron & Don redux...
There's two books about a boy named Baron Trump (Trump's son is Barron Trump) who is aristocratically wealthy and lives in Castle Trump written in 1889 and 1893. He embarks on adventures which begin in Russia and are guided by "the master of all masters," a man named "Don." The same author Ingersoll Lockwood also wrote a book in 1900 called The Last President in which New York City is riven by protests following the shock victory of a populist candidate in the 1896 presidential election who brings on the downfall of the American republic.
It's You!
GiphyNot in history, but for me personally.
I was at a conference in New Mexico one year, and there was a guy named Raleigh who spoke one morning. He was from New York, and at the time I wanted to live there, so I was hoping to speak to Raleigh so I could establish a contact (I didn't know anyone in NYC yet, so I figured any connection could potentially help me). I didn't get the chance to talk to him, and kind of forgot about it...
...until a year later. I was in Chicago for the summer and I met a woman from Virginia. When I mentioned to her that I wanted to live in NYC, she was like, "Oh, I have a friend in New York. I'll get you his contact info. Raleigh's a great guy."
It was the same f**king guy! TheAmazingJazzy
Intertwined and Cyclic histories.
Not the most incredible coincidence in THE WHOLE history, but in my particular history. When I was about 17 I met a girl in college and started dating her. Her grand-grandparents were from the same region as my grand-grandparents. One day she mentioned that she was (shamefully) from a family whose ancestors owned slaves. I happened to know that I am actually descendent of slaves. By now you can guess where this is going. We found some paperwork that her family kept in an old box and eventually found out that her family used to literally OWN mine. Fordent
I'm switching to a Caffeine Free life...
How Freud, Tito, Hitler, Trotsky, and Stalin at one point lived within a mile of one another in 1913. They even all frequented the same coffee shop. ziggymister
Makes you wonder what was in that coffee? inbsl
Holy crap I've been to that coffee shop. As have many others, but I did not expect this at all when clicking that link. wichtel-goes-kerbal
When it's your time, it's your time!
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand is up there. Basically he narrowly avoided assassination during the day's parade (wrong word but you get what I mean), later on the way to visit people injured during the first attempt, his driver makes the wrong turn and the car breaks down in front of a cafe which just so happens to be where Gavrilo Princip is sitting, who proceeds to assassinate Franz.
Details are shaky on this one because I haven't recapped since high school but you get the gist. Squeagley
Beware the Storm!
The Mongols failed to conquer Japan only because a typhoon came and killed them. Oh and then it happened again. They stopped trying after that because the gods clearly didn't want it. O_Zeca
And this is where the word "kamikaze," divine wind, originates. tribaL216
They came over and died in a tornado. Then they tried again and they fought a little then died in a tornado. Raptr117
Thank you Larry!
GiphyA Los Angeles man was being charged with the murder of a 14 year old girl, but in his defense, he was at a Dodgers game at the time of the murder, he had the tickets as evidence, however the judge and D.A. ruled out tickets as evidence, because they were unable to prove that he actually attended the game. Coincidentally Larry David and crew were shooting an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm the same day at the Dodgers stadium, and the man ended up being caught on film and when the episode aired, you were able to see him one of the frames, all charges against him were then dropped. jazzrootsherbs
A Googlewhack?
Do you know what a Googlewhack is? It's when you search for two words in Google and get only one result.
About 15 years ago, British comedian Dave Gorman was playing around on his computer looking for Googlewhacks, and he found one.
The website he found was run by a Welsh fellow named Marcus. Dave and Marcus met and became friends. Then one day Marcus decided to try his hand at finding Googlewhacks. He found one.
The website that Marcus found was run by a man who lived on France. It was a man the comedian Dave Gorman actually knew and was already friends with. That man's name was also Dave Gorman. jimmy_rigger
Coincidence you say? Mhmm...
Two Russian cathedral enthusiasts visited the Salisbury Cathedral, UK (famous for its 123m spire) the same weekend a former Russian spy was poisoned in Salisbury. nolep
A Russian journalist who criticized Russian President Putin coincidentally ingested a fatal dose of polonium.
Also, one of Putin's political opponents was randomly gunned down by bikers with semi automatic weapons. Putin vows to capture the real killers, though, so we can all rest easy. I_love_napalm
Well, that Cathedral is WORLD FAMOUS. I mean, people travel from ALL OVER THE WORLD just to see it. losernameismine
History is so interesting. No? Do you believe in coincidence? What is your life experiences with a hint of the deja vú?
Redditor H5N1BirdFlu wanted to discuss the moments in life that left us haunted and shook, so they asked:
"What is the creepiest or most unexplained event that you have ever experienced?"
I've seen so much creepiness I wouldn't know where to begin.
Deal
Walter White Wink GIF by Breaking BadGiphy"One car from one direction, and another car from the other direction stopped in front of my house. Both drivers got out and one gave the other a briefcase. Now that I am older I am guessing it was some kind of drug deal or something but at the time I found it very weird."
yapastaocho
'The Entertainer'
"We had a little copper music box that would start playing on its own. It was a man sitting at a player-piano and it would play 'The Entertainer' song. Now, I know that music boxes and such can spring (for lack of a better word) forward and play a few notes, but this thing would act like someone had wound it up and would play for a minute or two completely at random."
MercuryCrest
He?
"Me and and someone I used to know in high school way back when met to catch up. We were talking about our views on religion at some park. When we were walking back to our cars some guy said he had overheard us. We interacted a little and then went to our cars. I told her how awkward I felt knowing he overheard everything. She looked at me and said, 'He?'”
"After some comparing notes we realized we’d seen and heard entirely different people. She’d seen an elderly woman. I’d seen a middle aged man. Only problem is we only talked to the one person."
AccomplishedAuthor53
Overnight
"I usually go hiking and stay in the forest overnight, sleeping in a bivy and sometimes under a tarp. Now it's important to say I'm based in Europe. So no wild animals to be afraid of because usually they just boot it as soon as they notice you."
"So one winter night I'm sleeping under my tarp which connects to the ground on one side. It's in an area where there were fierce battles in the forrest on the border between Germany and Belgium in WWII."
"I hear something walking in the leaves, which is normal. There are always deer and ferral pigs on and about. But this time it comes closer and closer until I hear it right on the other side of my tarp and it starts growling. Its a noise I gad never heard and for a moment I was frozen trying to figure out what it might be and what to do."
"But I just decided to yell back and that did the trick. The animal walked a few steps and then turned back to growl once more before finally retreating."
"Let's put it this way, I didn't sleep for a while after that. I looked up the noise and think it was a badger."
Forest_Walkin
Devoured
Episode 4 Abc GIF by The BachelorGiphy"My family used to raise cattle. One morning I came out to check on them and I found one of the heifers had been more or less completely devoured."
"This same cow was perfectly fine the day before. There was nothing left but some hide, bones, and intestines. Thing is none of the predators that are in my area would be able to kill and eat an entire cow within the course of one night. Much less leave so little behind."
Aussieshepman
Poor cows. They live a rough life.
The Night Before
Get Out Omg GIF by Get Out MovieGiphy"When I was a kid, we lived in a kinda rural area. One night we came home late from an Uncle's house and there was a car parked up the road from our house with the headlights on."
"My mom suggested to my dad that we go see if they need help, he said no, so we went inside. Next morning police knocked on the door, a cyclist had spotted a body in the ditch exactly where the car was parked the night before."
Tpeest
Documents
"I have had a strange thing happen recently. I was waiting for my tax documents to come in so I could do my taxes. I had three documents that I put on my bedside table until I had the time."
"I decided to do it the other day and I couldn't find one of them. I tore the house apart, quizzed my husband (who swore he never touched it), checked the garbage, etc. I had resigned myself to the fact I would have to request another one, when it arrived in the mail."
"It was the same one, exact same information. I was really confused but grateful. I checked into it, it was not sent twice as far as the office could tell me."
"I don't know what to think. I KNOW I had that document because I had done some calculations with it. It's been itching at me like crazy."
monitormonkey
About 30 Feet
"A few months ago I was sitting in my living room on the couch, watching tv with a family member late at night. We have a high ceiling with a couple of rectangular windows at the very top of the wall just under where it meets the ceiling. The windows are so high (about 30 feet) we really only have them for natural lighting."
"So on the night in question, a green laser beam suddenly shown down through one of the windows, seemingly scanned the entire living room before stopping and pointing the beam right next to my family member for about 10 seconds and then disappearing entirely. It had to be either a drone or from some sort of flying aircraft. I live in a relatively secluded place which made the situation all the more unsettling."
0friday
Find Her
"Pretty sure I witnessed a kidnapping once and it still lives rent free in my head (the woman lost her slipper when she was trying to get away and i took a picture of it that i still have for some reason). I did indeed report it to police right after I saw it occur but they were pretty blasé about it and I never ended up being able to determine what they did to investigate."
ergaster8213
From Behind
the exorcist shadow GIFGiphy"I was in Jr High and had really long hair. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and almost tripped on a shoe on the floor. I bent down to move it and it felt like someone grabbed my entire pony tail and yanked it. I also could not sleep facing the wall for the longest time because it always felt like someone or something was right there behind me."
cheeseburgerphone182
Never face the wall. Life lesson.
These were some harrowing experiences, and we're glad these Redditors made it out to tell the story.
Do you have any similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below.
Redditor NeedSomeSparkInLife wanted to know who would be willing to share, so they asked:
"What makes you not want to be intimate with your SO?"
I'm an easily turned off person.
So it doesn't take much.
Desire
Bored Season 5 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Taking a moment to realize I'm the only one that makes sexual advances in the relationship. Makes me not want it. People think men only want sex for face value but a lot of men actually want the feeling of being desired more so."
Relative-Hour-9359
Anger Issues
"I've always heard of fighting then having sex after. Fighting has always made me not want it. The last thing I want to do when someone pisses me off is have sex with them. What made it worse is she always wanted to when we were arguing which made the argument worse when I refused."
DaMoonRulez_1
"I think you're supposed to resolve your fight, realize that you care for each other a lot, move past it, then have the passion because of that. Not fight right into sex."
Ksp-or-GTFO
Take a Shower
"My ex and I were together for nearly 7 years, but his hygiene never improved, so we stopped being intimate like, 3 years before I finally broke up with him. He showered only once a week, but he worked in kitchens, so he was sweaty and greasy all the time."
"He had an infected tooth, so he constantly had bad breath, but he refused to visit a dentist, even when he had the money to afford dental work. He stopped working out within the first year of us being together, which sucked because he would get jealous if I went to the gym by myself or with my girlfriends, but he refused to come with me."
GreenChorizo
Sober Time
"Personally, the only issue I have is my SO's drinking. He just becomes an unattractive person when he's drunk. It's one thing if we're both out socializing and drinking together occasionally, but he drinks almost every day, sitting on the couch in front of the TV and to the point of sloppy drunkenness way too often. His face changes, his posture changes, his personality changes... I just get so turned off."
WeptSiren3113
Hang Up
Art Hello GIF by LINDSEY L33Giphy"When they are glued to their phones non stop! Put that s**t down and look at me before we go to bed!"
Palmwine
"I really dislike this too. Makes me feel alone in the relationship."
RealBrownPerson
No phones in bed. Hard rule for many of us to follow.
Step Back
Be Quiet Go Away GIF by Ryn DeanGiphy"When I make a move, and then get the feeling she's not really in the mood/would only do it to please me. I want us both to have a good time, not only me. So when she seems not into it, I take a step back."
Level-Plate8372
Calm Down
"To be brutally honest, her anxiety and insecurity makes sex such a hassle. She doesn’t believe anything I say about wanting her, she can almost never relax during sex, she doesn’t take time to enjoy it, and if God forbid I have any trouble finishing, she takes it more personally than anything, which of course puts more pressure on me to finish, which then makes it almost impossible."
Ben_Franklinstein
When at Wal-Mart
"When they’ve done something really nasty/unkind that day. Cruelty is the most ugly thing a person can show, in my eyes. I had a boyfriend that I went to Wal-Mart with and he ended up flipping off and storming right past the sweet little old man that checks the receipts at the door."
"It was partially about how I used to check receipts and I remembered how I felt when people treated me like that- but I also remember the look on the little old man’s face and just how disgusted I was with my partner being so nasty about it."
"I couldn’t touch him after that and I got grossed out when he touched me. And then I started to notice how he was nasty to other people as well. It eventually led to our break up."
spxdergirl
33 Years In
"My husband used to dislike his job - he’d come home and do nothing but bi**h. After awhile, I just gave up trying to cheer him up with sex - you can only try so long. So, we had a long dry spell - like, whatever you think a dry spell would be, it’s longer. When someone is constantly annoyed, well, it’s hard to feel amorous."
"Anyway, he early retired (54) like a month before Covid kicked in and by autumn that year, well, let’s just say we’re back to what we were like when we first met. He’s not pissed off all the time. (I’m retired as well, and let’s just say, afternoon nookie is such a perk, as is morning nookie and 3am nookie because you can sleep in!) I’m glad we stayed together. Going on 33 years and we’re just so happy."
NicInNS
Rage
Angry Inside Out GIF by Disney PixarGiphy"Feeling angry. I hate feeling angry. I don't like being around other people when angry. So I'll go for a walk, a drive etc, and just clear my head."
jackfaire
It seems like "dead bed," as some folks call it, can stem from many things, from mood, attraction, hygiene, and more.
Do you have anything to add to this list? Let us know in the comments.