Five of history’s craziest coincidences

Are coincidences just random acts, or the work of fate or God? You be the judge for these five extraordinary coincidences.

TWO DEATHS: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third presidents of the United States, respectively, died on the same day, within hours of each other. The date? July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the two men signed the Declaration of Independence.

COSMIC COINCIDENCE: A total eclipse occurs when the disc of the moon appears to fit perfectly over the disc of the sun, but how is this possible when the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun? The answer is that the sun is 400 times farther from Earth. Astronomers say there is no scientific explanation for why the geometry should line up this way.

CIVIL WAR: FROM BEGINNING TO END: The Civil War Battle of Bull Run in 1861 took place on the property of Wilmer McLean, a wholesale grocer living in Manassas, Va. (His house was being used as the headquarters for a Confederate general at the time). McLean and his family later moved 120 miles to Appomattox, Va, where in 1865, the Confederates used his house once again — as the site of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

DENNIS THE MENACE: On March 12, 1961, a character named Dennis the Menace debuted in the British comic “The Beano.” A few hours later, on the other side of the Atlantic, a new syndicated newspaper comic strip was published — also called Dennis the Menace. The two comic creators did not know each other and had no idea of the other’s work.

SEPTEMBER EARTHQUAKES: The people of Mexico have suffered through three major earthquakes — each which occurred on Sept. 19 in different years. The first took place on Sept. 19 1985, and killed more than 10,000 people as hundreds of buildings collapsed. The second struck in 2017 and was responsible for the deaths of 360 people. The most recent one hit this year on Sept. 19, with one death reported. Mexico City officials now run a practice earthquake alarm every year on that date.