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...
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When 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...
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Pirates 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 source summerset
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....
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The 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.
https://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!
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Not 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!
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A 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?
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.