There is no denying the fact that sometimes there are some very strange coincidences. Everyone has had a coincidence or two happen to them in one way or another. Sometimes these are profound and at other times relatively minor. These coincidences may even seem to be minor but have an effect on future events. I was thinking about the coincidences in my life and here is an event I recalled:

I was in the US Army and stationed in New Jersey. I was married and lived off base in an apartment house that held about 4 families. We were mostly off on the weekends and sometimes would take a ride in the car. One Saturday my wife and I decided to drive to a town that was about thirty miles from where we lived. We were driving around the center of the town when the traffic light turned red and I stopped. After I was sitting at the light for a few seconds I felt a hard jolt in the rear of the car. It wasn't bad enough to hurt anyone but it shook us up. I got out of the car to see what happened and to see if the driver that hit me was ok. As I was getting out, the other driver left his vehicles. We both looked at each other and were astonished to realize we lived in the same building. As a matter of fact it was my landlord who hit me.

When Princess Diana was killed it was in an underground pass. It used to be a place of worship to the goddess Diana.

Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. JFK in 1946. Lincoln was elected president 11-6-1860. JFK was elected 11-8-1960.  After their deaths they were both succeeded by southerners named Johnson. Andrew Johnson was born in 1808, Lyndon Johnson in 1908. Lincoln's killer -John Wilkes Booth - was born in 1839,  while Kennedy's killer - Lee Harvey Oswald - was born in 1939. Both men were southerners and both men were shot before they could come to trial.  Booth committed their crime in a theater then ran to a warehouse. Oswald pulled the trigger in a warehouse, then ran to a theater.

Confederate Solders On Duty
Photo Source: Library of Congress

In the American Civil War there were two brothers. One was Thomas Owens and the other was Abner Owens. Thomas Owens enlisted in the Confederate Fourth Kentucky Infantry and Abner Owens enlisted in the Federal Kentucky Infantry. For over two years the brothers fought against each other in many battles, though never seeing each other personally. As the Confederate Army evacuated Chattanooga a company roll was accidentally dropped. The roll was signed by Thomas Owens, the company clerk. The paper lay on the ground and thousands of troops marched on it and kicked it around until it became ragged. Abner Owens was marching along and picked it up out of curiosity.Both brothers had been slightly wounded in the Battle of Chattanooga and both promoted for their gallantry. Abner was put on picket duty and was within talking distance with the Confederate pickets. He told them about the paper and his brother. The two brothers were able to meet at opposite picket lines for the next three days without interference. Both brothers returned home after the war and found out that they had both been wounded in the same battle in the same way and in the same area. Both had achieved the same rank, Colonel.

If you like Civil War coincidences here is another one for you. Wilmer McLean moved away from Manassas in 1861 because a cannon ball came through his kitchen wall during the First Battle of Bull Run. He moved to the town of Appomattox Court House where the war ended in his parlor with Lee's surrender.

Edgar Allan Poe
Photo Source: Library of Congress

Edgar Allan Poe wrote "The story of Arthur Gordon Pym from Nantucket". The story concerns sailors who were shipwrecked and made it to a lifeboat. One of them named Richard Parker died and the others kept alive by eating him. Forty Six years later the Mignonette was shipwrecked. Four sailors made it to a lifeboat. One sailor died and the rest kept alive by eating him. The dead sailor's name was Richard Parker!

In 1899 a famous Canadian actor, Charles Coghlan died of a heart attack while he was performing in Galveston, Texas. The next year a tremendous storm hit the area and flood waters washed the coffin into the Gulf of Mexico. The coffin drifted for thousands of miles, over three thousand to be exact until fisherman from the Prince Edward Island found it. This was the island where Coghlan was born and raised. He was reburried in the cemetery of the church where he was baptized and rests there today.