10 Amazing Coincidences From History
How a sandwich started the First World War.
The First World War wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for one fatal coincidence involving a sandwich and a botched assassination. Had a car not stalled in just the right place, at just the right time, maybe the entire 20th century would have been completely different.
Not all coincidences from history carry the same weight but they sure are interesting. Whether it’s a curse bringing forth Hitler’s attack on the USSR, a crossword accidentally leaking British Secrets, or the many, many things John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln have in common, there is something fascinating about the symmetry of a good coincidence.
A coincidence is described in the dictionary as: “A remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.” However some people might begin to wonder if fate has something to do with it. After you’ve survived your third ship sinking disaster (each of the three sister ships that the Titanic belonged too) you might start to wonder if a higher power was trying to send you a message.
Fate or not, one thing is for sure, history is riddled with eerie occurrences.
10. Abraham Lincoln And John F. Kennedy
Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy may have lived 100 years apart, but they had a lot in common. How's this:
- Both presidents were elected in ’60, and were both succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.
- Both died after being shot in the head on a Friday, while seated next to their wives.
- Both presidents had four children and both lost a son during their presidencies.
- Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theatre. Kennedy was shot in a Ford Lincoln.
- Lincoln sat in box number seven at Ford’s theatre. Kennedy sat in car number seven in the motorcade.
- After Lincoln’s assignation, John Wilkes Booth (the killer), ran from the theatre to a warehouse. After Kennedy was shot his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, ran from a warehouse to a theatre.
Not bad, eh?