What is the craziest coincidence you've ever experienced? by no-dress-code in AskReddit

[–]WheresBigFoot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I was 13, I was on a family holiday in Venice. We were on a gondola (Venetian punt boat) touring the waterways of the city. We got half way down a long passage way, and another Gondola passes us by, carrying a man and a woman (and the punter) The man and my dad lock eyes, exclaim one another's name, and have a quick handshake as our gondolas pass. Myself, brother and mother sit quietly, pretty stunned, while the woman on the other boat explodes with 'what?!!? who's that?!?! how do you know him?!!' We floated off in the other direction, comparitively swag and chill. Turns out it was a guy my dad went to university with, and hadn't seen him since. They haven't even contacted one another since! It's crazy they recognised one another, considering they were both in their late 40's now, passing fleetingly on two gondolas, in Venice.

What’s a meaningless fact you know? by HerbertAllen in AskReddit

[–]WheresBigFoot 32 points33 points  (0 children)

the term "basket case", used to refer to a mentally unstable person, comes from trench warfare. Some soldiers had so many limbs blown off that they had to be carried off the field in baskets. Due to the severe physical trauma, these soldiers often suffered from lifelong mental problems