Six Wildest Coincidences in US History

A historical overview details six remarkable coincidences in American history. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The Civil War began and ended on properties owned by Wilmer McLean: the first Battle of Bull Run in 1861 at his Manassas home, and the surrender at Appomattox in 1865 at his Appomattox home. Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, saved Robert Todd Lincoln from a train accident months before John Wilkes assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Mark Twain was born two weeks after Halley's Comet in 1835 and died one day after its return in 1910. Identical twins Jim Springer and Jim Lewis, separated at birth in 1940, reunited in 1979 and discovered parallel lives: both married and divorced a Linda, married a Betty, named their dog Toy, had an adopted brother Larry, vacationed in Florida, worked as deputy sheriffs, and named their sons James Allan/James Alan. In 1898, Morgan Robertson published "Futility" about a ship named Titan that sinks after hitting an iceberg, closely mirroring the Titanic disaster of 1912.