One Unlucky Fella

In 1883, Henry Ziegland of Honey Grove, Texas broke up with his girlfriend shortly before their announced wedding. She was so distressed she committed suicide. Her brother, who loved his little sister very much, felt the need to avenge her death. He went to Ziegland's ranch several days later where he found him in a field standing in front of a tree. The brother pulled his 6-shooter and fired, hitting Ziegland in the head. Thinking he had avenged his sister, but not wanting to swing from the gallows or spend his life on the run from the law, he turned the gun to his own head and fired, killing himself instantly.

What had actually happened though was the bullet had only skimmed Henry's head with just enough force to knock him down. The bullet continued on its way behind Ziegland, lodging itself in the tree he had been standing in front of. Ziegland was not seriously hurt and counted himself a very lucky fellow.

All was well until 20 years later in 1903 when Henry decided to clear the land where the tree still stood. He tied several sticks of dynamite to the tree and set it off.  The explosion caused the embedded bullet to fly into his head and killed him on the spot.

That's Odd

Off the coast of Wales is a particularly dangerous section of water called the Menai Straight. Since records have been kept, it has been documented as being the location of many shipwrecks. It is also the location of an oddity that can only be thought of as pretty darn weird.

On December 5, 1664, a sailing vessel with 81 passengers aboard sank in the perilous waters of the Menai Straight. 80 souls lost their mortal lives. The only survivor was a man named Hugh Williams.

On December 5, 1785, exactly 121 years later, another ship sank in the Menai Straight. Of the 18 passengers and crew, only one survived - a man by the name of Hugh Williams.

Several records list different dates, but another sinking was recorded in the Menai Straight. Either on December 5 or August 5, 1820, a ship with 25 passengers sank. There was only 1 survivor - you guessed it, Hugh Williams.

On July 10, 1940, a British trawler hit a German mine and sank in the same location as the previous sinkings. This time there were two survivors, a man and his nephew. Both were named Hugh Williams.

Now, Hugh Williams turns out to be a pretty common name in that part of the world, but still, it's pretty odd don't you think?