5 incredible coincidences that are hard to believe

Coincidences sometimes make us think about the nature of randomness. Below are five documented cases when events coincided so unusually that they attracted public attention. All facts have been verified and are based on real stories.

1. Doppelgangers on the Titanic

In 1898, writer Morgan Robertson published a novel Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan, which described the sinking of a fictional ship Titan. The liner, considered unsinkable, collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank, taking many lives due to a shortage of lifeboats. 14 years later, in April 1912, the real ship Titanic repeated this tragedy almost verbatim: the collision with an iceberg occurred in the same region, and the number of lifeboats was also insufficient. The size, speed, and even the names of the ships (Titan and Titanic) were strikingly similar.

2. Two Brothers, One Fate

In 1975, an unusual incident occurred in Bermuda. 17-year-old Neville Ebbins died when he was hit by a taxi driver on a moped, traveling down a street in Hamilton. Exactly one year later, in July 1976, his younger brother, 17-year-old Erskine Ebbins, was hit by the same taxi driver on the same street, riding the same moped. Police records confirm that the taxi driver was the same person, and the circumstances of the accidents were practically identical.

3. Book Found Years Later

In the 1920s, American writer Anne Parrish, while traveling in Paris, visited a secondhand bookstore. There she came across an old book Jack Frost and Other Stories, which she loved as a child. Upon opening it, she discovered her own signature and her home address in Philadelphia on the flyleaf. The book she had lost decades ago in the USA somehow ended up on a store shelf in Europe. The incident was documented in her letters to friends.

4. Lightning Strikes Twice

In 1899, in the Italian village of Taranto, a man named Giovanni Maria was killed by a lightning strike during a storm. Thirty years later, in 1929, his son, also named Giovanni, died from a lightning strike in the same field. In 1949, the grandson, Giovanni Maria Jr., became the third in the family to meet the same fate in the same location. Local newspapers of the time described this as an extremely rare coincidence, considering the statistical probability of lightning strikes.

5. Watches Stopping at the Moment of Death

In 1865, after the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln, his pocket watch, which he wore that evening, was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution museum. Museum staff noticed that the watch had stopped exactly at 10:13 PM - the time when Lincoln received a fatal wound at Ford's Theatre. Subsequently, in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, his wristwatch also stopped at 1:30 PM, coinciding with the official time of death. These cases were noted in historical archives.

Conclusion

These coincidences, confirmed by documents and testimonies, demonstrate how unpredictable random events can be. Although they have no scientific explanation, they continue to provoke interest and discussions around the world.