By definition a coincidence is something that is remarkable involving two or more unrelated things that still happens at the same time or in a way that seems to relate the two. One of the key features of a coincidence is the fact that the things or events are, in fact, unrelated. But over time we’ve come to doubt the very idea of a coincidence. People will remark “isn’t that a coincidence?” in a knowing way that suggests they don’t think it’s a coincidence at all, and conspiracies abound that many coincidences must therefore be the exact opposite. But despite that, the world is still rife with true coincidence, things that seem like they have to be related somehow and just aren’t.
10. Freddie King, Albert King and B.B. King Were all Blues “Kings” But Unrelated
If you’re a fan of the Blues or even just good guitar playing in general, then you probably know B.B. King who was also known by the nickname King of the Blues Guitar. It’s a clever name with a dual meaning thanks to King’s name and the fact that the man was just really good at playing the Blues. But he was also known by another name, or rather as part of another name, one of the three Kings of the Blues Guitar.
The Three Kings included B.B. King, Freddie King and Albert King. They were all born within about a decade of one another and rose to fame in the 50s and 60s together, their careers overlapping for many years. All three men rose to prominence as incredible musicians, in particular for playing Blues guitar, and it was sheer coincidence that all three were named King and they were unrelated.
9. Robyn, Robin S, and Robin Schulz all Have Songs Called “Show Me Love”
“Show Me Love” may not be the most creative sounding name for a song ever, but it certainly captured the imagination of more than one artist. By coincidence, it seemed to capture the imagination of three artists who all had basically the same name. American R&B singer Robin S. was first to release a “Show Me Love“ back in 1993.
Swedish singer Robyn released her “Show Me Love“ in 1997, which went on to create confusion as both were popular ’90s dance hits. Robin Schulz waited until 2015 to release his own “Show Me Love“ which was, once again, a dance hit — though it didn’t get as popular as the first two. It’s still made trying to Google one specific song difficult in the present if you aren’t sure who sang what.
8. Denmark Keeps Electing Prime Ministers Named Rasmussen
What’s in a name? If you’re a Danish politician, maybe more than you’d think if you don’t believe in coincidence. But if you do, then it’s still interesting to note that Danes apparently have a real affinity for the name Rasmussen. As in they elected three Prime Ministers in a row who were all named Rasmussen, even though they were unrelated. They liked the last one so much they elected him again a few years later after taking a four-year break for someone named Thorning-Schmidt.
The Reign of Rasmussen began in 1993 when Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was elected. In 2001, he was replaced by Anders Rasmussen who served until 2009 when he resigned from office. That was when Lars Løkke Rasmussen took over. He only got two years in office but the people of Denmark were willing to give him another go when he was reelected in 2015 and stayed in office until 2019.
7. The Word for Dog in the Mbabaram Language is Also Dog
Language is one of the most fascinating parts of human development and when you look back through the history of language, it just gets more and more fascinating. You can pick any random word in English and trace its etymology, perhaps to French or German or Old English and Latin and so on, back through centuries. But where did it start? When did the first person to ever name an apple call it whatever they called and why? How?
The creation of language out of literally nothing will not be a thing we can ever fully understand in the present, but we can at least appreciate some remarkable coincidences that can occur across languages that have nothing in common and could have nothing in common over their development. One of the most amazing coincidences comes to us in the form of the word dog.
The etymology of dog in English gives us a dead end when we go back far enough. You can go back to Old English, around 1,000 years ago, and then the trail runs dry. But, remarkably, the same word appears in the Mbabaram language, one of the rarest languages in the world that was spoken by native Australians.
Mbabaram had no ties to English whatsoever and evolved entirely separately with no influence. Somewhat more remarkable was how linguists traced the evolution of dog in that language from the earlier word gudaga which saw some mild phonetic changes over time to produce what they called a one in a million accidental similarity of form and meaning.
6. The Caduceus and the Rod of Asclepius Looks Similar by Coincidence
In the medical community you can commonly find two symbols used by organizations as part of their official logos. One is the Caduceus, a staff encircled by two snakes with a pair of wings on top. The other is the Staff of Aesculapius, a staff with a single snake winding around it to the top.
You’ll see both symbols on medical ID bracelets but the Staff is the official symbol of organizations like MedicAlert, the American Medical Association, Yale School of Medicine and more. The Caduceus, on the other hand, is the official symbol of the Surgeon General of the US Army and the US Army Medical Corps. It’s used by the Public Health Service and numerous medical businesses as well. So what’s the difference?
The Staff of Aesculapius has been a symbol of medicine for years. Aesculapius was a god of healing. But the Caduceus is associated with Hermes, a messenger god who had nothing to do with medicine. The image, however, is more balanced with the wings and snakes and therefore more aesthetically pleasing. For that reason, since it looks sort of like the other symbol, it seems to have enjoyed widespread use as a result entirely by coincidence. It looks like the real symbol for medicine and healing, so it replaced the real symbol in many places.
5. Australia and America Both Have a Store Chain Called Target with a Bullseye Logo
Target, with its red bullseye logo, is one of the most popular retailers in America and reported over $100 billion in revenue for 2022. Suffice it to say, the chain is doing okay. But on the other side of the world there’s another chain of stores in Australia also called Target that also feature the exact same red bullseye logo that has nothing at all to do with the American stores. The goods sold are also similar, with the Australian version selling clothes, toys, electronics and so on but no food.
Target Australia is not owned by Kmart, contrary to rumors, but by a company called Westfarmers Limited. They filed their own copyright claim on the name and logo in Australia in 1968, a year after the American company did the same thing in America, neither company really having any idea that the other existed. The name and logo similarities are entirely coincidental and, if you think about it, using a bullseye as a logo for a store called Target is pretty much a no-brainer, so it’s not hard to imagine.
Though the copyright in Australia came a year later than the US store, the original stores, known as Lindsay’s, actually date all the way back to 1926 making the Aussie version much older than the American one.
4. There’s a UK Dennis the Menace Which Debuted on the Exact Same Day as the US Dennis the Menace
In the age of social media you’ll see a lot of accusations of plagiarism if someone posts a joke online and then someone else posts the same joke sometime later. But the fact is that this kind of simultaneous discovery or synchronicity of thought is not unheard of and can get remarkably complex. One of the best examples of this is arguably Dennis the Menace, which was created in both the US and the UK at the exact same time, each with no knowledge of the other.
Dennis the Menace appeared in comics on March 12, 1951 in both the UK and the US. The UK version appeared as a strip in a comic book and was created by David Law. The US version appeared in newspaper comic strips and was created by Hank Ketcham. Neither man knew the other, neither man had any idea that the other comic existed. Also, aside from the name, they aren’t all that similar.
The UK Dennis was much more of a Menace that his US counterpart, who was more of a pest than another else. When the two creators learned what was happening they seem to have mostly shrugged it off and agreed to keep doing what they were doing, acknowledging that the other was not a ripoff. That said,the UK version did end up being known as Dennis and Gnasher. When the Dennis the Menace movie was released in the UK, they just called it Dennis.
3. Two Postal Workers in Two Different States Shot Up Their Workplaces on the Same Day
There was a time when the saying “going postal” had a very clear meaning for most people – it meant going on a rampage. It had become a sort of morbid joke that postal workers were inclined to grab a gun and shoot up their coworkers as a result of a series of shootings that started in the mid-80s and claimed the lives of dozens of people.
The postal shootings became so ubiquitous for a time that, on May 6, 1993, it actually happened twice, in two different states, in totally separate and unrelated incidents. One shooting took place in Michigan while the other took place in California and three people died as a result while several others were injured.
2. Anise, Star Anise, Fennel, and Licorice Unrelated
If you like black licorice there’s a good chance you also enjoy anise and star anise as they all have very similar flavors. You can lump fennel into that group too as it also has a subtle licorice flavor. But despite the similarity, and especially when it comes to anise and star anise which are obviously very closely related at least in terms of names, none of these things are actually biologically related.
The flavor similarity comes from an oil called anethole. You can also find it in licorice root and in fennel. All four have the same flavor as a result even though the plants are not closely related in the biological sense of the word. Anise is actually more closely related to parsley and celery while licorice is from the legume family.
1. Agatha Christie Was Investigated By MI5 Over a Coincidental Name
Imagine being such a good writer of mysteries that you actually just start echoing reality with the stories you make up, completely unintentionally and in a way that makes the government investigate you because you’ve convinced them you’re a spy. That’s what happened to Agatha Christie. In her book “N or M,” Christie created a character named Bletchley, who knew some military secrets.
MI5 had an issue with this because Christie was friends with someone named Dilly Knox who happened to be a code breaker at a secret facility in a place called Bletchley Park. Knox had helped break the Enigma codes and his work was informing the movement of British spies. So they had to find out if Christie somehow had learned this info.
When Knox tried to stealthily inquire about why she named the character with secret info Bletchley, she explained it was because she was stuck in Bletchley waiting for a train and hated it so much she named her least likable character after the place. It was merely a coincidence in the end.