The Old French Postcard Coincidence From 1900

Strange isn't it? One 1900 Paris Postcard, showing the Tribunal de Commerce and the Palais de Justice, comes along - and then, like London buses, another follows straight away behind.

But what is stranger still is that the second postcard was sent on the 10th of April 1900 to a Henry Arondel and by 'coincidence' the French painter Henry Arondel just happened to die on the very same date.

And I found an up to date photo of the identical scene as the postcards taken from the very same spot. The only difference appears to be that there were many more people on the bridge back in 1900.

Many Say that the Evil That Men Do Lives After Them

Karin and I walked to a car boot sale and got talking about someone we know. As we entered the car park, where the sale was being held, I said, "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones."

I know, I know, a little pretentious but it seemed to fit what we were talking about - and I was once a bit of a Shakespearean actor. Okay, the last bit is a fib. The only time I've actually been on stage was during my school days. I remember my last role well as I was the Gay Youth. This was at a time when 'gay' only meant being carefree and happy! My friend played the part of the Sombre Youth - deep stuff. We were massive hits - all right, second fib.

I digress.

There wasn't much to interest me at the sale but I bought a paperback, titled The Shakespeare Secret, for 20p. As it was likened to the Da Vinci Code on the cover I thought it might be an easy holiday read.

As I opened the book I saw that on a page prior to the first chapter was the same quote I had said to Karin - see below. This was another reason why I bought the book, the synchronicity bell sounded.

When I got home I absentmindedly opened the book and there on page 436 was the very same quote again.

So I guess there must be something relevant for me in these words. Though I'm not sure what. In fact I feel that sometimes it's the bad that is interred, rather than the good.

It's still mentioned, for instance, how Jimmy Savile (remember him!) raised millions - up to $56 million - for charity and was knighted by the Queen; but let's hope it's never forgotten that he was also a rampant paedophile who molested hundreds of children. This only came to light after his death.

The Shakespeare quote is from Julius Caesar, I remember the speech as I had to learn it for English Literature exams when at school. 

What I didn't know was that Julius Caesar was performed at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York in 1864. Mark Antony was played by John Wilkes Booth and his brother, Edwin Booth, played Brutus, and their brother Junius Brutus Booth Jr was Cassius. The coincidence about this is that a few months later John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln, supposedly with the cry, "Sic semper tyrannis" (thus always to tyrants). This was also attributed to Brutus at Caesar's assassination.

William Oxberry wrote similar words to Shakespeare: "Because it is a truth and a melancholy truth that the good things which men do are often buried in the ground while their evil deeds are stripped naked, and exposed to the world."

Personally, when I look back on the lives of people close to me who have died all I remember is the good. Some things no doubt are best forgotten.

A Short, Snappy Coincidence From Karen.

A short, snappy coincidence from Karen.

My biggest coincidence is from about 20 years ago. My name is Karen and I live in Michigan (USA), and I met another Karen who lived about a block away from us.

We got to talking, and over a few weeks time we realized that we had both lived in the same house while growing up in Minnesota (about 600 miles away).

Her family lived there before our family did.

Not sure that it really meant anything, but it was very interesting!

~ Karen

A Wrong Righted By A Coincidence

A coincidence sent to me by Paul which illustrates how wrongs sometimes can be righted - with the helping hand of a coincidence.

"I had a girlfriend, Lisa, during the summer between Freshman and Sophomore year in college. I went back to college, then returned for Thanksgiving and had one more date with her. Then I broke up with her via a letter in December (a huge mistake, but that's another story).

I was back in St. Louis 12 years later. I visited a book store in a mall about six miles from my parents' home. I visited the book store perhaps once every five years. When I went to stand in line to pay, there was Lisa, right in front of me! I asked her how often she visited the book store, which was even further from her home. She said that she had never been there before. We had dinner that evening and I apologized for breaking up with her so impersonally."

~ Paul

The Coincidence That The House He Bought Was Built By His Ancestor

I think today's coincidence or synchronicity story is quite remarkable and on several layers. See what you think.

Douglas Hunter lived in Australia but his family had been in New Zealand for at least five generations. He met and fell in love with Ros, a girl from England. They became partners and consequently had two children.

When Ros was pregnant, with their third child, the couple decided they would move to England. They agreed to settle somewhere in Suffolk, near to where Ros's parents lived.

Ros went on ahead to look for somewhere they could call home. One of the places she saw was an old disused chapel. It was for sale and was ripe for conversion into a family home. The chapel was in Rendham near to Aldeburgh in their chosen county of Suffolk.

Ros said, "I was pregnant and jet lagged but I thought it was wonderful. I loved the pillars inside and managed to ignore the problems."

The deal was done to buy the property and Douglas duly arrived from Australia to see what she had bought. He viewed the enormous dilapidated building with holes in the roof, broken windows and rows of pews. He looked at Ros and said one word, "Why?"

Then came what Douglas describes as a spooky surprise.

His mother came over from New Zealand for a visit and was looking through some of the very old documents that had been left in the chapel and made an amazing discovery. She found that the chapel was built with money from one of their ancestors!

As Douglas emphasised, "I didn't know any family connection with Suffolk."

Isaac Watts

His ancestor a Dr Isaac Watts was a wealthy man who was a prolific hymn writer including 'Joy To The World' and ' Our God Our Help In Ages Past'.

The chapel was built back in 1750s from a donation made by Dr Watts and has quite a history. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, made visits in the 18th century. The building was finally deconsecrated in 1979 as the congregation gradually diminished in size.

Douglas and Ros converted the chapel into a wonderful five bedroom family home in which to bring up their children.

How strange that Douglas should meet Ros, a girl from Suffolk - where there just happened to be a link to his ancestors. Some links appear never to be broken.

Coincidence Of The First Nuclear Submarine To Execute A Submerged Circumnavigation Of The Earth

USS Triton submarine SSRN/SSN-586

USS Triton (SSRN/SSN-586), a United States Navy nuclear submarine, was the first vessel to execute a submerged circumnavigation of the Earth  - Operation Sandblast - doing so in early 1960, under the command of Captain Edward L. "Ned" Beach, Jr.

There is a coincidence attached to the circumnavigation.

As the submarine was making it's submerged journey it raised periscope in the Philippines' Magellan Bay. On doing so Captain Beach found himself staring into the eyes of a startled fisherman in a canoe!

For a long time, in the 1960s, it was wondered, "Who was the fisherman?" The National Geographic Magazine actually managed to trace him on Mactan island off Cebu. He was, at the time, a 19 year old called Rufino Baring.

Rufino told of how he was terrified when the eye of the huge nuclear submarine unexpectedly broke water and then vanished. He said, "I was tired and thought I was seeing things. But when it came back a second time, I thought it was part of a very big monster and I was frightened. I tried to get away as fast as I could because it started to move very fast."

Rufino paddled frantically for home but didn't tell his family about what he had seen.

The incident was described by Captain Beach in his log:

"Upon raising the periscope. I am looking right into the eyes of a young man in a small canoe, close alongside. Perhaps he has detected the dark bulk of our hull in the relatively clear waters of the bay ...

A few seconds later I motion for the scope to be raised once more. Sure enough there is our friend, impassively leaning on his gunwales and staring right at the periscope as it rises barely two inches out of the water.

It's a ludicrous situation: On the one hand an impassive Asian, staring with curious concentration at an unusual object in the water; on the other a US Navy Officer, equipped with all the technical devices money can procure, looking back with equally studied concentration. On one end of the periscope, an outrigger canoe propelled by the brawny arms of its builder; on the other end a $100,000,000 submarine, the newest, biggest, most powerful in the world, on a history-making cruise.

What an abyss - what centuries of scientific development lie between him and me!"

When Rufino was eventually traced he thought he must have committed some sort of crime and was very relieved to be told otherwise.

He was unaware that his photo had been taken through Triton's periscope. When he was told that he was the only person who saw Triton on it's voyage, the information was greeted simply with an embarrassed smile.

And now for an uncanny coincidence about this story.

In making the voyage, in early 1960, Triton began and ended the circumnavigation from St Peter and St Paul Rocks off Brazil.

Rufino, frightened after his experience, repainted his canoe and added two saints' names to protect it from further meetings with sea monsters. The apostles' names he chose were: St Peter and St Paul! 

The Coincidence Of Meeting 40 Years Later While On Holiday

Morris Van

A coincidence story today - there seem to be a lot about at the moment! This one is from Eric Grant in England : 

My wife and I decided to have a real holiday in 1958, the first since we married.

We'd go in our Morris Minor van-with-windows camping for two weeks, through France, Switzerland and Italy (a 4 ft mattress fit snug in the back!).

The first night we'd booked a hotel in Abbevilla and after dinner walked down the main shopping street. On the opposite pavement we saw someone who looked remarkably like a solicitor friend from home, Geoff Meopham. We decided it couldn't possibly be him, as he didn't appear to recognise us.

Six weeks later, buying petrol, in followed Geoff, and I told him he had a 'double' in France. "You fool," he said, "that was me." Oh dear!

Exactly 40 years later, having lunch in Lanzarote, with our feet dangling in the swimming pool water, in came a man who did look a bit like our old friend (whom we hadn't seen for decades due to moving), though he looked much older.

Without hesitation I rushed over to him and said, "You look remarkably like an old friend, Geoff Meopham from Billericay. This happened 40 years ago and we didn't approach you then, so thought I would now!"

He said, "I'm glad you did, Eric. I've lost my wife so I'm here to try and recuperate. Nice to have someone to talk to for a week!"

What a reunion!

~ Eric Grant

It's a Small World Coincidence

Quite remarkable coincidences I noticed in an article in the Daily Mail newspaper. The story was from S. Turner, Kent, England.

"Driving from Sydney to Adelaide, while on holiday in Australia, we had a number of amazing coincidences.

On an overnight stop-off at a small town, we were surprised to see someone who is a regular at our local pub.

In another town, we ran into an old work colleague from London whom we hadn't seen for 20 years or more.

Then, finally in a shopping mall food court in Adelaide, who should be sitting at a nearby table but a man who caught the same train as me each morning on our commute into London. He and his wife were on a cruise and has only just arrived in Adelaide that day. Small world indeed!"

An Embarrassing Coincidence Meeting On A Nudist Beach

 

A coincidence story from a 67 Not Out reader.

"I remember an  Embarrassing Coincidence from a holiday I had in 2010.  Please don't print my full name as the thought makes me still blush today, Alice will do.

I was on holiday with my husband in Fuerteventura before our daughter was born. The island has lovely long, sandy beaches though sometimes it can be very windy as they blow in from the Atlantic. It was unknown to us before we arrived but many of the beaches are full of nudists. At least I don't think my husband knew!

At first we were very modest when we went to the beach and kept well covered but as we didn't know anyone we gradually got braver. I went topless and finally both of us took the lot off. It was a very pleasant experience sunbathing and then swimming in the sea to cool off.

This was fine, as I said, we didn't know anyone else. We walked quite a long way along the beach so we wouldn't bump into any of the other hotel guests. It was nearly 2000 miles from home, I told myself.

After four or five days I was even brave enough to go for a swim by myself. I came out of the water and I heard a voice say, "Hello Miss."

I'm a junior school teacher and there before me was one of my pupils, aged seven, looking at me. Worse still was his father standing next to him fully nude. I wanted to run away as I felt so flushed and embarrassed. I took a deep breath, which probably wasn't a wise thing to do, and mumbled something like, "Hello Timmy and what a lovely day it is Mr J****," and with that I turned round and shakily walked away.

We went to a different beach the following day! I remember the holiday fondly as our daughter was born nine months later."

At Odds of Five Million to One the Money Lost From Her Bra Was returned to Her

 

A strange  short coincidence style story from the archives of  The Fort Scott Tribune.

Casa Grande, Arizona: A housewife has recovered a roll of $230 in bills after it travelled 13 days in a sewer.

Rose Mary Sotelo told city officials she was cleaning her toilet on July 3rd, and when she reached to flush it, the money dropped from her bra and was flushed down the drain.

Officials said she had one chance in five million of recovering the money. 

On Wednesday, however, Harvey Swearingen, a sewerage employee, happened to turn off the sewerage chopper at the disposal plant three miles from Mrs. Sotelo's home.

He was amazed to find neatly rolled $5 and $10 bills, totalling $230, with a rubber band still holding them intact.

Of course the story has almost more questions than answers. Why, for example, was Rose carrying money in her bra - especially when cleaning the toilet? But, whatever, her money was returned - sometimes we need belief to bring about miracles.

Amazing Coincidence Of Hitler And The British Prime Minister

Berlin, March 27, 1935: Adolf Hitler and Anthony Eden (British Foreign Secretary later to become Prime Minister) discovered by accident that they were lying in directly opposite trenches in the Great War (1914-18) battlefield exactly 18 years prior to their meeting.

The amazing coincidence was realised by both men during a luncheon at the British Embassy while the peace conversations were in progress.

While illustrating a point Eden turned the menu card over and drew a map of a British Ypres sector showing exactly which sheltered him in 1917, and how the British troops were deployed.

Hitler then took Eden's card and drew a sketch of his own trench opposite, and the general arrangement of the German troops in this sector,

Eden took the menu card as a souvenir of his Berlin visit ... but, of course, they would be on opposite sides once more during World War II (1939-45)

See also:

The Holman Projector Coincidence From World War 2

A Curious Coincidence About The Warning Of World War 2

World War 2 Coincidence In Cologne

The Coincidence of a Meeting on the Beach

A coincidence story from a reader.

I see from your other blog, Mike, that you are in Cornwall. This reminded me of a coincidence I had in Newquay.

I was on holiday and was on Fistral beach with my wife. We got talking to a couple near to where we were sitting.

The conversation flowed and the wife mentioned she once lived in Hayes. I told her my parents used to live in Hayes as well.

"Whereabouts in Hayes were they?" she asked.

"On the Barnhill estate," I answered.

"I was in Atlee Road," she said.

"That's where my parents were as well" I answered.

It turned out that when young she knew my parents, as she lived next door to them!

It's a small world at times.

~ Richard Smith

P.S. Another coincidence I was born in Hayes - Mike.

There are many coincidence stories on this blog, here are a couple:

Standing at a Bus Stop Led to El Alamein Coincidence 

Photo Taken Of Father Showed His Missing Daughter

My Cornwall blog is:
Mike's Cornwall

The Remarkable Coincidence From World War 2

A quite remarkable coincidence story from my cuttings. This one is from Mr V.L. Coombes of Devon, England and features his brother in World War 2. 

My brother Murray was in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and fought right through the North African campaign. Subsequently his unit was sent to join the fighting in Italy. 

 He was riding in a convoy to Monte Cassino when a couple of enemy planes strafed the lorries. 

Murray threw himself into a ditch at the side of the road. However, it was already occupied by a soldier lying face down in the mud. 

When the bullets stopped whizzing overhead, the original resident turned around and said, "Hello Mur, nice of you to drop in!" 

 Despite the muddy face, Murray recognised him as the lad who, years before when children, had spent years sitting beside him in a double desk in our small school and whom he had not seen since the day they left. Now, there's a coincidence! 

 ~ Mr V.L Coombes

Three Simple Coincidences in Twenty Minutes

You'll find many coincidences on the pages of this blog, some very elaborate and mind blowing but sometimes the simple examples stop and make you think. I had three such coincidences in about twenty minutes.

Firstly I started writing an email and, at exactly the same time, an inward email dinged and it was from the very person I was about to email - both the emails were timed at 4:14.

About 15 minutes later I mentioned to my wife that I was expecting a parcel in the next few days - something I had ordered for my grandson. As soon as I said this the doorbell rung - and there was my parcel arriving early.

Later I was thinking I wanted to show a neighbour a photo I had taken of his garden (as above). At that very moment my wife said she was just popping out to visit the very same neighbour.

Okay, the coincidences are hardly that mind blowing, but isn't it strange how such things happen and usually in a cluster - often in threes.

On some days it's almost like we are switched on to synchronicity while on others we aren't in tune.

Will You Be Remembered in 266 Years Time?

I had a feeling when we left home this morning that I would have some sort of coincidence. I did. Nothing very dramatic but it amused me.

For quite a while I have been trying to find a 'hidden' 1700s stone tablet that is somewhere in the boundary wall of St. Austell Church. 

Today, by chance, I found the stone and the first coincidence was that the name on the memorial is Mary Harris. We have a friend by the same name - though she's not from the 1700s! She is the wife of my best friend who died a while back.

Though quite hard to read the stone states:

Here lyeth 

the body of 

Mary Harris 

who died the 7th June 1734 

aged one and twenty

The second coincidence, meaningful to me, is that Mary Harris died on the 7th of the 6th i.e. 76 

As regular readers of this blog may know there are many, many significant 76s in my life - for example I met my wife on the 7th of June. Also lots of 67s in my life, thus the title of the blog.

I wonder why she warranted such a prominent position on the church wall? There are no other such stones. All I know is that she supposedly died of drowning.

I managed to find her baptism in local records which show she was baptised on the 13th of September 1713. Her father was Nicholas Harris - but her mother's name is left blank on the records.

I suppose the question is, how many of us will be remembered in 266 years time?

BMW Motorcycle Owners Met By Coincidence

Here's a coincidence from a reader which I never got round to publishing . So here we go now.

"I was in New York on holiday from London. I saw a man with a BMW motorcycle which was exactly the same model as the one I owned in London. We chatted a bit and I went on my way.

A few months later I was riding my BMW motorcycle in London and stopped at a set of traffic lights. Waiting to cross the road on foot was the man that I had spoken to in New York that had the same model BMW motorcycle!

~ Richard Montgomery

Just shows what a small world this is - Mike.

Standing at a Bus Stop Led to El Alamein Coincidence

A coincidence story from my cuttings:

I have lived in Cardiff for fifty years although I was born in Felixstow, Suffolk, the home of my father.

We rarely visit Cardiff city centre these days, but one day I suggested to my husband that we should go there by bus (we normally travel everywhere by car).

At the bus stop, two old men were talking about the previous night's television programme on El Alamein. I butted in that my father was killed there.

One of the men asked me my father's name and I gave him the surname, to which he quickly gave my father's first name and said he was his best friend.

We were both shaken.

Not long after our meeting I heard that the man had died.

To think we had been living in the next street for some forty years.

~ Mrs. P Griffiths

The Right Tool at the Right Time Coincidence

The gentleman who sent me this synchronicity example wishes to remain anonymous. I say synchronicity but, perhaps, there is more to this than synchronicity. 

It is often said that the universe provides for our needs - if we go about it the right way. 

"I recently met someone who has often had synchronistic experiences involving money. I’m afraid I don’t have that gift. Mine tend to involve tools. I've learned that life seems to provide me with tools and materials, but I have to do the work. I have a small pile I call my 'synchronistic objects'.

Example: one day I was going on a solo kayak trip. It was six miles through a small, remote river that ended at the ocean. I packed food, clothes, a hatchet and a pair of three foot long loppers. I looked at my over packed kayak and thought 'you've gotta be kidding', so I took only the essentials and left the loppers behind. 

About a mile downstream my trip came to a halt. Trees and brush had totally overgrown the river. In this branch-thick remote place I regretted leaving the bulky loppers behind, then I looked to the side of the river, lying on the muddy edge, you guessed it, in the middle of nowhere, a long pair of loppers. I cut my way through and kayaked to the ocean."

Charged Up 'My Battery' & Two Coincidences Popped Up

I thought it strange I hadn't had any coincidences for quite a while and then three came together. Nothing very extraordinary but nevertheless showed I was nearly tuned in again.

As regular readers may know the numbers 67 and 76 often occur in my life, sometimes with the addition of the number 9 - as with my Father's Birth Certificate for example.

I checked this blog's stats twice - quite at random times. As can be seen below - they both featured 679 and 769!

My wife and I were talking and she mentioned how we hadn't seen any creatures in our garden for a long time, other than birds. You've guessed it, the very next day we had three visitors.

First was a toad!

Secondly a squirrel, who seemed determined to get into our front porch and kept jumping up against the window. 

Thirdly a large slow worm was curled up near our fence - unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. It seems that 'things' often do come in threes.

I also did a post on my Cornwall blog about the three creatures. See:
The Story of the Toad, the Squirrel and the Slow Worm

Lanzarote And Small Coincidences

Lanzarote

I hadn't been experiencing many coincidences / synchronicity moments recently - must have been out of sync with the world or something!

I decided my wife and I needed a break so we went off to Lanzarote to get some proper sunshine and to switch off from computers and the like.

We arrived in the Canary Islands and wondered if we'd made the right choice for our destination. On our first morning we wandered down to the sea front and sat on a public seat. I snapped a photo of the beach and sea and then, for some reason, randomly turned to my right and took a photo of the promenade.

I checked the photo and noticed that the woman in the centre of the photo was wearing a t-shirt with a large '76' on the front.

I have written, probably many times, how 76 or 67 has occurred in my life over and over, almost symbolising good things. So I took the t-shirt to be sign that we had made the right choice.

Then when we started walking my wife said, "Do you realise that our suite number is also a 76 or a 67?"

I hadn't, but our suite was number 4216. So 4+2=6 and 1+6=7. So 67.

But also 4+2+1 =7 and the remaining 6 =76.

So all was well with Lanzarote!

We wandered along the sea front for a few miles and ended up by Arrecife Airport, which is right on the coast. The planes were arriving from the direction of the sea. It was interesting to see them arrive very low above our heads.

My wife said, "I wonder when the next plane will be as I'd like to see it land." At that precise moment a couple on bikes stopped next to us and, out of the blue, the man said to us, "Do you want know when the next plane is landing?"

We said we did. He got out his phone where he had an app and could tell when the next plane was due, and even had a picture as to what it looked like plus where it had come from. I took the photo below of that expected plane.

My wife's question was answered!

After this similar 'little' coincidences / synchros seemed to keep popping up over and over. So the break in Lanzarote turned out to be a positive experience.

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