Historical Coincidences Quiz

Answer: 4 July 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of independence. The two former presidents, first allies then rivals, had made up through letters. Adams supposedly murmured 'Jefferson still survives', unaware that he had died a few hours earlier. At the time the coincidence was seen as a sign of providence.

Answer: Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe was born on 1 June 1926, a few weeks after the future queen, born on 21 April. The two women met briefly in London in 1956. One died in 1962, the other reigned until 2022.

Answer: Eiffel designed the internal iron framework that supports the statue. Sculptor Auguste Bartholdi called on the engineer to design the iron skeleton on which the thin copper skin rests. Unveiled in 1886, the statue came three years before the Eiffel Tower, which uses similar construction principles.

Answer: No, but only just: the empire ended in 1922 and Mickey appeared in 1928. After more than six centuries, the Ottoman Empire was abolished in 1922 and the Republic of Turkey proclaimed the following year. Mickey debuted in 1928 in 'Steamboat Willie'. Only six years separate the two events.

Answer: 1977. Hamida Djandoubi was guillotined in Marseille on 10 September 1977, a few months after 'Star Wars' opened in the US. The death penalty was abolished in France in 1981, on the initiative of Justice Minister Robert Badinter.

Answer: James Monroe. Five years after Jefferson and Adams, Monroe became the third of the first five presidents to die on Independence Day. And Calvin Coolidge, another president, was born on 4 July 1872: the only US president to have that birthday.

Answer: No: the same date, but in two different calendars, about ten days apart. Spain already used the Gregorian calendar, England still the Julian. Cervantes in fact probably died on the 22nd and was buried on the 23rd. This apparent coincidence inspired UNESCO to make 23 April World Book and Copyright Day.

Answer: The University of Bologna. Bologna was already attracting law students from all over Europe in the 12th century. The Inca Empire only rose in the 15th century and fell in 1533. Salamanca dates from the 13th century and Harvard from 1636.

Answer: Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in February 1911. Tubman, born into slavery around 1822, had guided dozens of people to freedom via the 'Underground Railroad'. Kennedy was born in 1917, Carter in 1924 and Bush senior in 1924.

Answer: It appeared in no names and meant 'at' in English. He needed a character on the keyboard that wasn't used in user names. The @, then little used outside accounting, fitted perfectly. Tomlinson said he couldn't remember what that first message said, probably a string of test letters.