There are deaths that are remarkably surprising and eerily coincidental. The fates of these individuals seem to be intertwined with a mission, or the emergence and conclusion of some task.
1. Struck by Lightning Even in Death
Struck by Lightning Even in Death.
Lieutenant Summerford was an officer in the British Army. In February 1918, while in Flanders, Belgium, he was struck by lightning, resulting in paralysis from the waist down. By 1924, after moving to Vancouver, Canada, he was once again struck by lightning while by the riverbank. Two years later, he passed away, but this did not mean he escaped the haunting presence of lightning. Four years after his death, his grave was destroyed by a lightning strike.
2. An Accident Straight Out of a Horror Novel
Edgar Allan Poe was a famous horror novelist of the 19th century.
One of his works completed in 1838, titled “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket“, shocked the public due to its eerie similarity to a real-life tragedy that occurred in 1884.
In his novel, Poe wrote about the adventures of a young man, Arthur Gordon Pym, who stowed away on a whaling ship named the Grampus. Unfortunately, the ship sank in a storm, leaving only four survivors adrift in a small boat, desperate and starving. Ultimately, Arthur and two others decided to kill a boy named Richard Parker for sustenance.
An Accident Straight Out of a Horror Novel
The same scenario happened over 40 years later when a large ship named the Mignonette, traveling from Southampton, England to Australia, encountered a storm and sank in the South Atlantic, leaving only four survivors: sailor Dudley, his wife Edwin Stephens, Edmund Brooks, and a boy also named Richard Parker.
After 19 days adrift with no food or water, Richard Parker succumbed to drinking seawater and fell into a coma. The remaining survivors killed and consumed the boy, reasoning that he was going to die anyway and had no family.
3. Three Narrow Escapes Thanks to the Same Monk
Joseph Matthäus Aigner (1818 – 1886) was a renowned Austrian painter of the 19th century, yet he was deeply pessimistic and constantly sought death.
The first time, at the age of 18, he attempted suicide by hanging but was saved in the nick of time by a monk from the Capuchin monastery (an ancient monastery in Vienna).
For the second time at the age of 22, he again attempted hanging and was once more rescued by the same monk.
Portrait of the Renowned Painter Joseph Matthäus Aigner.
Eight years later, Joseph was sentenced to death by hanging due to political activities against the regime. Strangely, thanks to the intervention of his savior from the Capuchins, he was pardoned.
Ultimately, Joseph succeeded in taking his own life with a pistol at the age of 68, and the person who brought him to the eternal realm was none other than the Capuchin monk, whose name Joseph never learned before he died.
4. The Crimes of Jean Marie Dubbarry
The Crimes of Jean Marie Dubbarry
If your name is Jean Marie Dubarry and you are French, could you easily commit a crime? On February 13, 1746, a Frenchman named Jean Marie Dubarry was executed for killing his father. A century later, another Frenchman named Jean Marie Dubarry was also executed for committing a similar crime on February 13, 1846. What an unbelievable coincidence.
5. The Death of King Umberto
On June 28, 1890, King Umberto of Italy dined at a restaurant in Monza, Italy. There, he was shocked to learn that the restaurant owner bore an uncanny resemblance to him and was also named Umberto. Even more astonishing, the restaurant owner’s wife shared the same name as the queen, Margherita. Additionally, the restaurant opened on the same day King Umberto ascended to the throne of Italy.
Coincidentally, both King Umberto and the restaurant owner were born on April 14, 1844.
On July 29, 1890, when King Umberto was informed that the restaurant owner had died in a mysterious accident, just hours later, the king himself was assassinated by an intruder in the crowd where he stood.
6. Three Generations of a Family Struck by Lightning
In 1899, a shocking incident occurred when an Italian man was struck dead by lightning in the middle of Taranto’s square. Thirty years later, his son also died in a similar manner, at the same spot as his father. On October 8, 1949, the grandson of the first man and the son of the second man also met the same fate.
7. The Name Claude Volbonne
In 1851, a man named Claude Volbonne killed a Frenchman named Baron Rodemire de Tarazone. In 1872, another man also named Claude Volbonne killed the son of that Frenchman.
8. Greenberry Hill and the Three Murderers
On November 26, 1911, three men were sentenced to death by hanging for killing Sir Edmund Berry. The execution took place at a location named Greenberry Hill. Coincidentally, the names of the three men were “Green“, “Berry“, and “Hill“.
9. Mark Twain and Halley’s Comet
The famous novelist Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835, the same day Halley’s Comet appeared, and on April 21, 1910, he passed away, coinciding with the comet’s next appearance. The “Father of American Literature” stated that he arrived with Halley’s Comet and would depart with it. Indeed, this became a reality.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens is the real name of Mark Twain.
10. A Horrific Disaster Just Like a Novel
Morgan Roberton
In 1898, an anonymous novel was written by Morgan Roberton and gained attention only after the legendary Titanic sank in 1911 due to astonishing coincidences. The novel tells the story of a luxury ocean liner named Titan, which suffers a tragic fate similar to that of the Titanic. The number of passengers and lifeboats in the story closely mirrors the actual figures.
Later, Morgan Robertson wrote a novel titled “Beyond the Spectrum”, describing a future war with large airplanes and bombings. Subsequently, the Japanese military declared war and bombed the island of Hawaii in a similar manner.
11. Born and Died with a… Magazine
Born and Died with a… Magazine
In 1936, the first edition of the magazine Life was released with the title “A New Life Begins”. The magazine reported the birth of a boy named Geogre Story. Many years later, the magazine continued to track and document Geogre’s life achievements.
In March 2000, Life magazine announced it was preparing to print its final edition. Coincidentally, Geogre Story passed away one month after that announcement. Thus, the final edition was titled “A Life Has Ended”.
12. Twins Die on the Same Road, on the Same Day Just 1 Mile Apart
Twins Die on the Same Road, on the Same Day Just 1 Mile Apart.
In 2002, in Raahe, Finland, a pair of 70-year-old twins tragically passed away on the same road on the same day. They were both struck by a truck while cycling in a snowstorm. The brother died just 2 hours before the younger sibling, and the distance between their places of death was only 1.5 miles. The younger brother was unaware of his sibling’s death because their family chose not to inform the media.
13. Creator of the Snoopy Cartoon Series Dies on the Day the Film Ends
Charles Schultz – Creator of the Snoopy Cartoon Series Dies on the Day the Film Ends.
On December 14, 1999, cartoonist Charles Schultz announced his retirement after 50 years of drawing the Peanuts cartoon featuring Snoopy. He expressed his wish for no one to continue the series: “Everything has to come to an end. I will stop here, and no one has the right to continue this series.” However, he did not have much time to rest, as he passed away on February 12, 2000, from colon cancer, just one day before the final Peanuts film was set to premiere.
14. Composer Afraid of Number 13 Dies on the 13th
Composer Afraid of Number 13 Dies on the 13th
Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg suffered from triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13. He was born on September 13, 1874, and believed that his fate was tied to that date. His obsession was so intense that he once changed the title of his work “Moses und Aaron” to “Moses und Aron” because the former had 13 letters.
At the age of 76, an astrologer warned him to be cautious as 7+6=13. Overwhelmed with anxiety, on January 13, 1951, he spent the entire day in bed, restless and fearful. When the clock struck midnight, his wife entered the room and scolded him for wasting the day. She recounted, “At 11:45, I looked at the clock and told myself the worst part of today is almost over. Suddenly, the doctor called to say my husband’s throat was vibrating strongly, his heart was racing, and he had passed away.” Perhaps superstition and fear contributed to the talented composer’s death.
15. Baritone Dies on Stage While Singing About Death
Baritone Dies on Stage While Singing About Death
Opera singer Leonard Warren died on stage during the third performance of Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. After he sang the line “Morir! Tremenda cosa!“, which translates to “To die! A tremendous thing!“, he suddenly collapsed due to a massive cerebral hemorrhage.
