Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Amazing "Coincidences"

I subscribe to a holistic health newsletter written by a doctor named Joseph Mercola. He actually published (without permission, I might add!) a few articles I had written for the Gerson Institute. I was flattered, truthfully!

I just had to share this little article I found in today's newsletter.
(and I didn't ask for permission EITHER! So there). HERE is a link to his website.

Unbelievable -- What Are the Odds of This Happening?


* In 1975, a man riding a moped in Bermuda was accidentally struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, the man’s brother, riding the very same moped, was killed in the very same way by the very same taxi driven by the very same driver -- and carrying the very same passenger.

* Twin brothers Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were separated at birth and adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both were named James, both owned a dog named Toy, both married women named Linda, both had a son they names James Alan, and both eventually divorced and got remarried to a woman named Betty.

* Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and John Adams helped to edit and hone it. The Continental Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776. Both Jefferson and Adams died on July 4, 1826 -- exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

* A German mother who photographed her infant son in 1914 left the film to be developed at a store in Strasbourg, but was unable to collect the film picture when World War I broke out. Two years later she bought a film plate in Frankfurt, over 100 miles away, and took a picture of her newborn daughter -- only to find, when developed, the picture of her daughter superimposed on the earlier picture of her son. The original film, never developed, had been mistakenly labeled as unused and resold.

* In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead by fellow poker players who accused him of cheating to win a $600 pot. None of the other players were willing to take the now unlucky $600, so they found a new player to take Fallon’s place, who turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. At that point, the police arrived and demanded that the original $600 be given to Fallon’s next of kin -- only to discover that the new player was Fallon’s son, who had not seen his father in seven years.

* In the 19th century, the famous horror writer Egdar Allan Poe wrote a book called ‘The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.’ It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventually the three senior members of the crew killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.

* In 1930s Detroit, a man named Joseph Figlock was to become an amazing figure in a young (and, apparently, incredibly careless) mother’s life. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother’s baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby’s fall was broken and Figlock and the baby were unharmed. A year later, the same baby fell from the same window, again falling onto Mr. Figlock as he was passing beneath. Once again, both of them survived the event.

* In 1973, actor Anthony Hopkins agreed to appear in “The Girl From Petrovka”, based on a novel by George Feifer. Unable to find a copy of the book anywhere in London, Hopkins was surprised to discover one lying on a bench in a train station. It turned out to be George Feifer’s own annotated (personal) copy, which Feifer had lent to a friend, and which had been stolen from his friend’s car.

* 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 resemblance between each other and found many more similarities.

1. Both men were born on the same day, of the same year (March 14, 1844).
2. Both men had been born in the same town.
3. Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.
4. The restaurateur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.
5. On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restaurateur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, an anarchist in the crowd then assassinated him.

* While American novelist Anne Parrish was browsing bookstores in Paris in the 1920s, she came upon a book that was one of her childhood favorites -- Jack Frost and Other Stories. She picked up the old book and showed it to her husband, telling him of the book she fondly remembered as a child. Her husband took the book, opened it, and on the flyleaf found the inscription: “Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs.” It was Anne’s very own book.

Are these instances merely coincidence, or are they something more? It all depends on how you look at it.

As the famous words of Albert Einstein sum up quite nicely: “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

28 comments:

Suesjoy said...

I believe in miracles...

lryicsgrl said...

.....me too! And I need one EVERYDAY!
(Hearing the Grateful Dead in the background of my mind) I need a Miracle, I need a Miracle....

Anne-Marie said...

Hi Sue,
I love your post- so many fascinating stories.

I hope you're doing well, my dear.

xx
AM

Suesjoy said...

Oh yes I know that Dead song well Sue!

("I need a woman about twice my height"....ok I don't remember too many of the words! Where's Colleen M when you need her?).

Hi Anne-Marie-
Glad you liked the stories.
I wonder if they are all true!
I am so gullible/trusting. I believe them!

I am well - a little tired though.
I need to eat more and sleep less and workout more.
I will visit your bloggie soon!


Take care girls,
Love,
Suexxxx

Gina said...

Wow, that is some wild stuff! Thank you for sharing those stories!

gypsy noir said...

Just dropping a postcard by from my holiday by mistake..

Hot Chocolate beleived in miracles!..


I believe in miracles too-infact it's a miracle I haven't murdered all my cats because they wind me up something rotten!..


Interesting stories..

Life is stranger than we imagine..

Ahvarahn said...

Wow, you too, and everyone. It is really strange because the other night I got home slightly earlier than usual, it was about 6:30 PM. I went into the house and immediately followed the smell down three steps into the kitchen where I found my wife cooking. Well, would you believe it, it just so happened that it was her turn to cook and guess what? Yes! I was starving.

Cathy with a C said...

I believe in miracles, too!

Great stories - a few of them sound vaguely familiar so maybe I read something like that before.

Glad the job hunt was so successful!

Cathyxox

grace said...

I believe in miracles too.

Spooky coincidences. I Love reading that those things. Funny thing happend to me today, I went to my hotmail page to log in to check e-mails, and they show the weather in the corner. now I have never put in the zipcode where my parents had lived, and I did not have an e-mail address when they were alive, but their small town in Georgia was the weather stats posted!!

I hope you are doing fantastic, and feeling great :)

take care

grace said...

'that those things' What?? see you have me all spooked out!! lol

Suesjoy said...

Hey Gina!
So nice to see you.
Glad you liked the stories.


Gypsy!
Aw...ta for the postcard.
How's your "holiday by mistake going?"
Oh I am being a lazy blogger...hence the recycled article.
I will post a new one SOON!


Paul!
You're so CLEVAH! as always...
It's so refreshing to hear from a man who appreciates his partner's culinary delights. (Thankfully Sujoy does too! He USED to cook alot too...which was very nice. I love to cook now so IT'S ALLLLLL GOOD).




Hello Cathy!
Yes I'm sure these stories have made the rounds! Pretty amazing stuff (if they are REALLY true!).
Thanks - yeah I lucked out jobwise!
(I think/hope!)


Hi Grace-
Wow that really is eerie about seeing your little hometown on Hotmail.
Maybe just a sign from above that they are still with you.
I used to HATE hearing that - people said that ALL the time when my mum passed away...but NOW I feel her near me. She's helped me alot.
I miss her so much though.
Her birthday is coming up on Jan. 29th.


Happy Sunday y'all!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Dan L. said...

Here is another one:

I was born at the exact moment that was listed on my birth certificate! Also, I have two feet, almost exactly right next to each other, though at opposing symmetry! I have ten fingers AND ten toes!

Now for the real story...

My Dad had six kids. Boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl. They had: Black curly hair, Blond wavy hair, Blond straight hair, Red wavy hair, Brownish wavy hair, and Brunette wavy hair.

My first name is my wife's last name. Her Dad's name is the same name as his wife's (though the masculine version and femminine apply). My chosen Catholic Confirmation name is also...the same name! None of knew each other (except her parents) to make any of this come to pass purposely.

Pete Townshend is my long lost brother, separated from me in a jungle rain forest while we were trying to separate from each other.

I am likely related to Moses (really).

There.

--Dan L.

Dan L. said...

The Pete Bloggers Bunch:

There were so many
Now so few
What is left
Is stuck like glue

elena said...

Wow, Sue, amazing stories. I knew the one with Anthony Hopkins, very interesting.

Thanks for sharing!
ElenaXXXX

Suesjoy said...

LOL Dan!
Ok - does Neilby have your password???

And how are you related to Moses?
Did you look that up on the internet on
roots.com or something???


Great to see you!

How come you don't post at the Rachel Fuller Forum?
We miss you, I'm sure Rachel does too!

Take care and thanks for visiting my bloggie!

Lots of love,
Suexxx

Suesjoy said...

oops! So sorry Elena!

Oh so you KNEW that one about Anthony Hopkins?? That was pretty cool.

Take care,
Love,
Suexxx

BlackVelvetLace said...

Like everyone said.. wow.. these are really amazing..

As a natural born skeptic, I for one struggle with miracles. I always did, guess I'm like Doubting Thomas, because for me it's *show me the money (and before my very eyes please)* alla time (so imagine how tough my conversion to biblical Christianity was). Even since, my faith can waver limply, so I just keep praying *I believe, help my unbelief!!!*

Thanks for posting these Swho!!

xox
~Lace~

MargieCM said...

Have I entered Sue's blog or an episode of the Twilight Zone? Truly there are more things in heaven and earth, or however it goes.

Here's an odd one for you - you know (maybe) we took Madeleine's boyfriend with us on our trip? Well, three days into it in Rome, he ate a dodgy pizza and became really sick for 24 hours. His mum rang him the next day, and he told her he'd been ill. We were stunned to hear that at the very same time (real time that is) that he first felt sick, she had been in a pharmacy and saw some anti-nausea pills and bought them - no reason, and she'd never bought any before - she just felt she needed to buy them. How weird is that?

Dan L. said...

suesjoy:

I have not been able to post there (Rachel's)...it simply won't accept my password and sign on. I have tried and tried.

...And I do not care for myspace.

I am "related" to Moses, by my heritage through my last name.

Where is Neil, anyway?

See ya!

--Dan L.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue!!! So sorry I've been away so much from here - I have been away from blogdom a lot in fact, and am finding it difficult to keep track, but this is to let you know I'm thinking of you dear, and when I have the time, I'm going to come back and read all the posts I've missed...promise!
Lots of love Sue xxx

grace said...

Hi Sue,

I feel that my parents are still with me, especially when things like that happen. You went through the 29th alright (I have a new keyboard, and the question mark does not want to work. oddly, last Tuesday I was coming by your blog and spilled my water on the keyboard, so am using the new one now.)

the pic of Pete I took from a fantastic pit seat I had! and the pic is from the mic stand in the pictire. the picture didn't show the big chunk out of the side of the pic from Pete rippin!!!

xox

grace said...

How could I forget........I'm going to see Bruce!!! I can't wait.

lryicsgrl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lryicsgrl said...

uggh, I keep making typos...

anyway, stopping by to spread the love...xo

Holly said...

Thanks 4 leavin me comments! <3

Lucy said...

Sue, this is so weird. There's a word for this.

I mean, just the other day I was reading (somewhere) (of COURSE I can't remember where - I read too much) that there's a term for this. And it's NOT "coincidence". GOsh, I wish I could remember.

This in itself is an instance of that. (sort of) Me running across this topic on your blog just after I've read about it.

When I remember the word, I'll come back and tell you!

(cool that you wrote an article such as this!)

Have a great Sunday... (you probably already are... )
- Lucy.

Lucy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lucy said...

I remembered the word: synchronicity.

For some reason I thought it was some other word, but no.. it was synchronicity.