King Umberto's uncanny end
The story of Umberto's 'twin' may or may not be true, but it's a widely-shared 'unbelievable fact'. True or not, it's just far too good not to share!
On 28 July 1900, King Umberto I of Italy visited a small restaurant in the town of Monza. As the owner greeted him, the King realised they looked identical and also shared the same name.
But the coincidences kept coming: they were both born on March 14, 1844 in the same town.
They both married women named Margherita on the same day, and both had sons called Vittorio.
They both served in the military and were promoted (to different ranks) on the same day, AND the restaurateur opened his restaurant on the very same day that King Umberto was crowned.
Amazed, the King invited his doppelgänger to the palace, only to find the restaurateur couldn't make it: he was killed in a gun-related accident earlier that day.
Later that day, the King was assassinated by a gunman.
Bonus Bubblegum
In 1889, the Margherita pizza - with its white mozzarella, red tomatoes and green basil (representing the Italian flag) was named after King Umberto I's wife, Queen Margherita.
Amazing, but true?
While it's a story told in many books and websites as an 'unbelievable fact', we can't verify the story's authenticity. So it's probably only an apocryphal tale.
Read More
A more skeptical take on the story of King Umberto I's 'twin' at did-you-know-that.com
Image credit: Portrait by Luigi De Rios, 1878 (public domain).
