Call them coincidences or the luck or the draw, but certain historical events have a knack of sending a shiver down your spine. Looking back into the past is like reading a book; the further we go and the closer we look, the more clues that we can find. Reading history in this way is a fascinating way of getting closer to some of the most important events ever to have taken place and what happened running up to them. Coincidence ran rife during certain times, leading many to think about the past in an entirely different way.
- The Tomb of Tamerlane
(source: bashny.net)
During the height of the Nazi empire, Soviet forces were puzzled to find something that seemed to predict the event happening in the first place. Carrying out an archaeological dig, Soviet researchers uncovered the tomb of Tamerlane, a professional who was renowned for his skills in warfare. While the tomb was full of intricate details, it displayed one warning, written large, proclaiming “Whoever opens my tomb will unleash an invader more terrible than I”. Ignoring the warning, the men opened up the tomb to take a closer look inside. Just two days later, German soldiers invaded the Soviet Union, killing an estimated 26 million in their wake.
- James Dean’s Speedster
(source: ericpetersautos.com)
The much loved James Dean tragically died in a car accident in 1955, after his Porsche lost control. In the aftermath of the crash, the car was towed towards a mechanic to be fixed, crushing the leg of an engineer after its engine fell out on the road. Things got worse from there, however, with the entire garage burning down just some time after the car was sent in for repairs. Soon after, the engine was given a new lease of life, having been sold on to a doctor. The bad luck just continued, however, with the doctor crashing the same car and dying himself. The car was later donated to a museum, where it fell off its mount and broke the hip of a teenager. Just 4 years later, the vehicle was discovered on a street, broken up into 11 small pieces, never to be used again.
- Doppelganger For Dinner
(source: madmonarchist.blogspot.com)
Dining out for the evening, King Umberto I of Italy was surprised to find himself in conversation with the restaurant owner. As the evening wore on, the two discovered they had the same birthday, hometown and had both married women called Margherita. If that wasn’t enough, the King woke up to find his doppelganger had been shot on the streets on July 29, 1900, the same day on which he was later assassinated.
- Hoover Dam
(source: history.com)
The Hoover Dam is one of the most impressive feats of modern engineering and unsurprisingly, it brought about a whole slew of accidents in its construction. While a total of 122 people died during the project, the first and last accidents were by far the most bizarre. A man called J.G. Tierney was the first to go on the project, after having drowned trying to find a location for the dam. The last death on the project occurred on the same day, 13 years later, and happened to be J.G. Tierney’s very own son.
- License Plate Prophecy
(source: biography.com)
While the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand has gone down in history as one of the most significant events to have taken place, triggering WWI. However, the act didn’t go exactly as it is remembered. Initially, the car behind Ferdinand’s was blown up, with the assassin believing he had made his hit. Ferdinand was later killed by another Soviet terrorist, who happened to spot the Archduke while making a sandwich spot. Strangely enough, the car in which Ferdinand was found dead had the license plate of AIII 118, the day of the first Armistice day on 11/11/18.