The twins paradox has not yet been fully understood … Why do children born from a split egg cell often have the same not only appearance, but also fate, and sometimes quite tragic?
Mirrored girls
The most famous twins in England were Greta and Freda Chaplin, born in 1943. From early childhood, parents noticed strange features behind them - if the girls were separated even for a minute, then they simultaneously began to cry. Greta and Freda grew up, but the strange dependence on each other did not disappear. They ate, slept, played, walked together and reacted very painfully to others.
The girls were so similar to each other that even their parents often confused them. But they both really liked this sameness. They wore the same clothes, hairstyles, shoes, accessories. Greta and Freda even dressed without the help of a mirror, looking at each other.
When one of them fell ill, the second immediately showed the same symptoms. And even if one cut her hand, the other would stick the plaster in the same place.
But this isolation on each other led to serious problems. Parents, frightened by such a strange behavior of the girls, sent them to a boarding school for mentally disabled children.
In the boarding school, in an unfamiliar environment and among strangers, the girls' problems became even more serious. They did not communicate with anyone but each other, and they perceived everyone around them as enemies.
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On weekends, they came home, but their parents did not want to see them and did not let them into the house. Sometimes they stood for hours absolutely motionless at the porch, and then simultaneously turned and went back to the boarding school.
When the girls grew up, they … ended up in a prison cell. They had a conflict with a young man - chauffeur Kevin Ivson. Freda and Greta literally pursued him: they wrote insulting letters, watched around the corner, showered streams of abuse, almost threw themselves under the wheels of his truck.
Ivson soon ran out of patience, and one day he recorded the threats and insults of the Chaplin sisters on a small tape recorder hidden in his pocket. He contacted the police and the tape was used in the trial. But the girls did not admit their guilt and shouted to the whole audience that Eveson was lying. However, the court found them guilty of insult, after which they were sent to prison. But a month later, the girls were released from prison in exchange for a promise to end the persecution of Ivson.
After that, the girls completely closed themselves in their world, from which they avoided getting out. Greta passed away in 2007, and Freda now lives in complete isolation from society and cannot bear the death of her sister …
Criminal doubles
Craig and Timmy Goode from America went down in history as twin criminals. From early childhood, they were distinguished by inappropriate behavior and hooligan manners. At nine, they mixed marijuana with their father's tobacco. They were expelled from school several times - for drugs, theft, alcohol, bloody fights.
William Good, the boys' father, left their mother, but continued to associate with his violent offspring. And I could not find anything better how to give them a rifle for their fifteenth birthday. It was with this rifle that he was killed by his grateful sons. For the company, the twins also killed their grandmother, William's sixty-year-old mother. They ripped off the rings from her fingers, stole the checkbook and valuables from the apartment.
At first, suspicions fell on the psychopathic killer, recently released, and since the twins disappeared after the robbery, everyone was sure that the teenagers had suffered the fate of their father and grandmother. But soon the twins were found in a laundry room in the basement of an apartment building, Craig and Timmy were alive and well, but so drugged that they could not utter a word.
A caretaker escorting the police said that Craig and Timmy could have been the killers "because they had a party the day before with their usual drugs, fights, and excessive drinking."
When the twins came to their senses a little, they were interrogated, and they confessed to their crime. Timmy testified that it was his brother who fired the fatal shots. Craig, however, denied this. The prosecutor, Don Myers County Attorney, told the jury that it was impossible to determine which of the twins pulled the trigger, which meant both were guilty. He said: “It was disgusting to hear and see how casually these boys talked about the murder, as if they had nothing to do with it. They have no heart. They thought it was just a joke and regretted only one thing - that they were caught."
The jury sat for four hours, deciding whether only one twin was responsible for the murder or both. In the end, they agreed with the prosecutor and found the brothers guilty. Each one was sentenced to 65 years in prison for murder and armed robbery.
Two in one
If the development of twins during the prenatal period went wrong, then fused children may be born. The most famous Siamese twins in history are Chang and Eng, who were born on May 2, 1981 in China. The boys grew together in the chest area and, due to their deformity, were sentenced to death. However, Scottish merchant Robert Hunter saved the twins from execution and took them to the United States.
It is interesting that people, doomed to be together for life, at the same time differed in completely different characters and temperaments.
Chang was a strong and restless child, while Eng turned out to be very weak and sickly. When the children grew up, Chang became an alcoholic, and Eng considered sobriety to be the norm. As a result, he simply hated his unlucky brother.
It's funny that Ang's sobriety and exemplary behavior helped out the bully Chang more than once. Once a drunkard was sentenced to imprisonment, but he was forgiven. The judges decided that it would be unfair to imprison the innocent teetotaler Ang.
The two fused antipodes earned their living by performing in the circus, and even went on a tour of Europe, where they made a splash.
Over time, the brothers still came to an agreement, and Chang even stopped drinking. Twins. decided to buy a farm in order to finally settle on their land. Interestingly, they soon managed to arrange their personal life! They married emigrant sisters from England. The couple gave birth to 21 children for two! Moreover, all the kids were distinguished by enviable health and appetite.
The neighbors looked askance at this strange family, and the brothers, in order to comply with generally accepted morality, bought two houses - one for Eng's wife, the other for Chang's wife. They themselves "traveled" from house to house, living in one family for a week, and in another for a week. The newspapers wrote about them: “Most of all, the brothers were characterized by the emotion and condescension with which they treated each other, especially not long before death. They constantly shared with each other their experiences, stories about illnesses, and did so with great tact, portraying their lives much more pleasant than an outside observer could admit. Brothers Chang and Eng died at an advanced age and at the same time.
Victor NIKOLAEV