Weird Coincidences of History (war, greatest, general, 80s)

[Trimac20]

What are some weird coincidences of history, say people who are unrelated who knew each other, or coincidental facts like the parallels between the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations. Any sort of uncanny coincidence in general. Try to limit your response to just one fact, so we can keep this thread going.

One I find fascinating is that a young Gandhi was studying law in London way back in the 1880s while Jack the Ripper was on his killing spree in late Victorian London. Theoretically, Gandhi himself could've been the Ripper! It makes Gandhi seem really old, as well, to think he was already an adult in the Victorian age.

[Grandstander]

Wilbur McLean, a wholesale grocer, lived in Mananas Virginia. When General Beauregard brought the Confederate army to fight the war's first major battle there, he selected McLean's house to be his headquarters. The home was damaged by artillery fire during the battle. At one point a shell came down the chimney and landed in the fireplace, but failed to explode because it came to rest in the pot which contained the staff's lunch.

McLean was still living there when the Second Battle of Mananas was fought and this was enough for him. He moved his family to Clover Hill, Virginia, away from the corridor where the fighting was taking place.

The war kept finding McLean. In April of 1865, the fighting came to Clover Hill, which by this time had changed its name to Appomattox Court House. When General Lee sought a meeting with General Grant for the purpose of surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia, McLean's house was selected as the venue by a messenger Grant dispatched for that purpose.

The surrender took place there and afterward the Union officers stripped the parlor of all furnishings to serve as memento's, but at least paying McLean for the articles.

The war in Virginia began on his farm and ended in his parlor.

And oh, you are limiting us to one fact per post, so....

How about the way you never see Clark Kent and Superman around at the same time?

[Exitus Acta Probat]

It's weird how the U.S. attacked Iraq and has been threatening Iran. Although those countries do not nor ever did pose a threat to the U.S., they just happen to be countries that Israel dislikes, in accordance with PNAC, whose dissertation regarding the pretext of a Pearl Harbor like attack, was composed before the 9/11 attacks, which were under the watch of the Mossad and were even being documented by the now infamous "Dancing Israelies of 9/11".

Weird...

[ovcatto]

Well there is always the story of Wilmer McLean whose farm was the site of the First Battle of Bull Run and whose Appomattox home was the sight of Lee's surrender. That's got to be rather mind blowing, especially for Mr. Mclean.

[Escort Rider]

In the early morning of the day during which the Japanese carriers were sunk or damaged beyond saving, a search plane which was to be launched from one of the Japanese cruisers was delayed by mechanical trouble and launched about an hour late. It so happened that the search sector assigned to that plane was the one in which the American carriers were located. Had that particular search plane been able to launch at the appointed time, it is probable that the Japanese would have had earlier notification of the location of the American carriers (which was the big question mark in their minds) and the results of the battle may have been affected.

[CAVA1990]

Not exactly a coincidence but I'm always struck by the photo of Bill Clinton as a boy shaking hands with JFK.

[CAVA1990]

Since I didnt really use up my one I have to say one of The greatest coincidences of histories were the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams 50 years to the day of our independence.

[T_Beaver]

Tony Randall once had a cat named Oscar, and Jack Klugman enjoyed the comic Felix the Cat! Coincidence?

[slowlane3]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

It's weird how the U.S. attacked Iraq and has been threatening Iran. Although those countries do not nor ever did pose a threat to the U.S., they just happen to be countries that Israel dislikes, in accordance with PNAC, whose dissertation regarding the pretext of a Pearl Harbor like attack, was composed before the 9/11 attacks, which were under the watch of the Mossad and were even being documented by the now infamous "Dancing Israelies of 9/11".

Weird...

Um - have you never heard of this ? Iran hostage crisis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[slowlane3]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

What are some weird coincidences of history, say people who are unrelated who knew each other, or coincidental facts like the parallels between the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations.

This article explains how the Lincoln - Kennedy coincidences were greatly exaggerated, and are less remarkable than one would think.
snopes.com: Lincoln and Kennedy Coincidences

Another true coincidence, however, involves how the famous stage actor Edwin Booth once grabbed and pulled Lincoln's son Robert to safety as he began to fall into the gap of a train arriving at the station. A few months later, Edwin Booth's brother assassinated Lincoln. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Booth . Robert Lincoln, whose father freed the slaves, ironically grew up to be President of the Pullman sleeping car company, which employed thousands of black servants / attendants on passenger trains, working them very long hours for low wages.