By definition, odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome. Sometimes odds are very likely, like the fact that nothing good will come out of 2020 (and thankfully, we are almost past it!), and sometimes not so much.
But on very rare occasions, odds-defying things happen against all possible likelihood, proving that after all, this world of ours is inherently random. So this time, we’re taking the ride of a lifetime featuring this selection of nearly impossible odds as presented by the r/nevertellmetheodds subreddit.
Created in 2015, the online community has a whopping 1.7m members who are all in for bizarre and wonderful chances that shouldn’t have happened. The subreddit’s description says it’s all about “Nearly impossible feats of achievement, those with a great degree of difficulty or incredible odds,” so let’s find out what exactly all this fuss is about.
This post may include affiliate links.
What Goes Around Comes Around
Many Of You Might Have Seen This . But For Those Who Haven't
Later that same day, he was elected president of Australia and married Gal Godot.
Small World
Thats crazy I wonder if the Coach / Dad ever looked at him and thought hmmm he looks a lot like me.
No matter what we think we know about odds-defying things, the truth is they do happen and they happen more often than we think. British statistician David J. Hand claims that even “extremely improbable events are commonplace.”
This is due to the improbability principle that’s comprised of five laws “analogous to the four laws of thermodynamics or Newton’s three laws of motion.” David insists that “These laws, the law of inevitability, the law of truly large numbers, the law of selection, the law of the probability lever, and the law of near enough, explain exactly why we should expect to encounter highly unlikely events, and indeed why we should expect to do so on a regular, even frequent, basis.”
One Man's Best Friend
In 1990, A Panel Of The Windscreen On British Airways Flight 5390 Fell Out At 17k Feet, Causing The Cockpit To Decompress & Its Captain To Be Sucked Halfway Out Of The Aircraft. The Crew Held Onto Him For More Than 20 Minutes As The Copilot Made An Emergency Landing. The Pilot Made A Full Recovery
I Know Twins Have Similarities But God Damn
This is where mathematics comes into play to define these principles and calculate what effect they have on each other. For example, the law of near enough “says that events that are sufficiently similar may be regarded as identical,” David explains.
In fact, this similarity is what precisely makes a dramatic difference. David adds the law of truly large numbers and the result is that “given enough opportunities, the probabilities of even very unlikely events can mount up to be almost certain.”
Those laws raise the number of opportunities for any unlikely happening to actually happen. Read more about David’s philosophy of probability in his book “The Improbability Principle.”
This Hero Has Luck +9000
Unexpected Reunion
What a lucky coincidence for them! They probably would have never found out otherwise.
That’s Gotta Be A First
Two Strangers Sit Next To Each Other On A Flight And Meet Their Doppelganger
Couple Proposes To Each Other At The Same Time
Genes Are Everything
Lucky Nurse
The Laura Buxton Coincidence
“And I Took That Personally” - Tsutomu Yamaguchi (Probably)
Neighbor Brings Owner Identical Cat
I like this idea a lot lol. Every home should have an emergency cat.
Load More Replies...As everyone should have a cat it just makes sense to have a spare as well.
Once my Aunt Betty was cat sitting while we were on vacation. She saw our tuxedo cat Silly in the yard and thought she had escaped, so she caught her and put her back inside the house. When we got home, we had two Sillies.
Take it to the vet so they can check if it's chipped. It may be someone else's lost cat.
Had a friend found his 'dead cat' which they presumed had been hit by a car. He was digging the grave, all the family were crying. Then he looked up from his labours to see his cat sitting on the fence watching!
I would have fainted if this happened to me 😳
Load More Replies...Lol, the 'heir' and the 'spare'! But seriously, were you able to identify which was which? Shopping in Tesco one day, in the pet aisle and I happen to notice their own brand cat litter, which has a picture of a black and white tuxedo cat on it! Stopped dead in my tracks - it was the spitting image of my cat!! I'm thinking, 'how did they get a picture of Neelyx', and 'WTF'. Took a photo of it and showed my man when I came home, he said "that's my boy" lol! I swear, the only difference between the 2 cats is that my Neelyx has white whiskers and ONE white eyebrow, the other eyebrow is black! It's his most defining feature, most cats like him, that I've saw anyway, their whiskers and eyebrows are all the same colour! And Ziggy, our Bengal, it'd be easy to identify him because of his markings! He's a marbled Bengal and his markings have a smiley face :) in them lol! Also, his mother and his sister (who is a lighter colour than him and their mother) both have the same markings!
That was supposed to be under her rude, comment! Lol
Load More Replies...This actually happened to my Dad when I was a small sprite in the 70s. We had a pug. Someone found an identical pug and put it in my Dads car late at night thinking it was our dog. (Small town. Nobody locked their car or house ). We found the dog the next day and the neighbor told us what he did. This dog looked exactly like ours (our dog was in the inside house). We ended up with identical pugs.
We had a cat. One day I was out of and my cat came to me but weird, I was pretty sure he was inside the house. I caught him, handed him to my bf and asked: "That's Capsule, isn't it?" He looked very confused and handed me my cat: "no, THIS is Capsule". The only one to not look confused was the fake Capsule.
If he hadn't died 15 years ago I would say they are my cat's siblings last-days-...a7b21b.jpg
reunited twins, I hope they like on another. OR... maybe the man saw his chance to get rid of his cat lol
We have a cat named Max and our neighbour has the identical looking cat. I can’t tell them apart and took to calling their cat “Fake Max”.
It's the only way the cats can get their quota of naps...not sure about getting enough food, though!
Load More Replies...Plot twist: neighbor is a scientist who stole the cat for cloning
Saw This Photo Posted Here.. Noticed I Have The Photo The Grandmother Took That Day. (Bought At An Antique Shop Years Ago In Phx)
Lightning Striking Simultaneously On Chicago's Three Tallest Buildings
None Of Their Feet Are Touching The Floor
The First Time My Friend Visited My Apartment She Was Mind-Blown That My Shower Curtain Looked “Exactly” Like One Of Her Shirts. I Half-Seriously Said That Her Story Sounded Made Up And Promptly Forgot About It Until She Returned The Following Week To Demonstrate. I Forever Stand Corrected
This Mother Deer Has Two Albino Fawns...
My Grandma Died On My Grandpa’s Birthday. My Grandpa Died On My Grandma’s Birthday
This Is A Tomato That Accidently Grew Inside Of The Fence
I think this is absolutely stunning! It looks like a necklace pendant!
Taking A Picture Like This
Thanks Jesus
Twins Married Twins To Give Birth To Another Twins
Landslide Splits Just Before Hitting A Farm In Iceland. Happened This Morning. No One Got Hurt
Went To Take A Picture Of The Rainbow And Lightning Struck At The Same Time!
What A Close Call
A Well Captured Photo Of Lightning Struck The Eiffel Tower
This Hare Caught On Google Street
This Is How The Newspapers Were Stacked Up At My Job
Beluga Whale Saves An iPhone!
We Were Seconds Away From Losing Our Home To The California Fire. Thank You To All The Firefighters That Saved Our Community!
Arrow In A Power Cable
The Cat Knocked My Daughter’s Fish Bowl Off The Dresser
The perfect opportunity to get a decent size aquarium for the fish. A bowl is too small.
Down You Go
It's Gotta Be Weird To Go To The Mall One Day And Run Into... Yourself
Car Found After An Amber Alert Near Me
Two Drunk Guys Imitate Connor Mcgregor As He Drives Past
Note: this post originally had 75 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
I had the flu once and was vomiting so much my side was killing me. We thought (at the time) it might be my appendix and I was rushed to the hospital where I had a CT scan. Doctor came in, said my appendix looked fine but told me there was a lump on my kidney. Short time passed, lump was removed, and it turned out to be cancer.
Can't believe the story below didn't make it onto this list. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/09/03/nurse-meets-baby-she-helped-save-28-years-later-and-hes-doctor/1184421002/
Sorry, but I ain't quite as trusting as I was pre 2020. I'd need some proof on quite a few of these.
Thanks for mentioning Hand's book. Perfect for a math-science nerd like me, so I immediately ordered it through our public library interbranch lending system ....
Per journalofethics: "Appendiceal CT scans are considered to be 98 percent accurate in diagnosing acute appendicitis when read by an experienced radiologist."
Load More Replies...I had the flu once and was vomiting so much my side was killing me. We thought (at the time) it might be my appendix and I was rushed to the hospital where I had a CT scan. Doctor came in, said my appendix looked fine but told me there was a lump on my kidney. Short time passed, lump was removed, and it turned out to be cancer.
Can't believe the story below didn't make it onto this list. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/09/03/nurse-meets-baby-she-helped-save-28-years-later-and-hes-doctor/1184421002/
Sorry, but I ain't quite as trusting as I was pre 2020. I'd need some proof on quite a few of these.
Thanks for mentioning Hand's book. Perfect for a math-science nerd like me, so I immediately ordered it through our public library interbranch lending system ....
Per journalofethics: "Appendiceal CT scans are considered to be 98 percent accurate in diagnosing acute appendicitis when read by an experienced radiologist."
Load More Replies...