Have you ever had a near death experience? Many of which have given remarkably similar accounts. Here are two similar accounts from two of the most brilliant people of the 20th century.

Nikola Tesla was one of the most talented scientists the world has ever known. His two greatest inventions, the alternating current transformer and the step-up transformer that became the basis for television transmission, have historical significance for the modern world. And while Marconi is credited with the discovery of radio, Tesla held patents on much of the necessary equipment. Another familiar, though less important, invention was Jacob’s ladder, which appeared in almost every early sci-fi movie made in the 1960s. (According to some film historians, Tesla was the basis for Dracula.) Yet another invention has led to low-intensity radio transmissions used to communicate with submarines and a tracking device that would have allowed the government to track all of the navy’s submarines. Tesla also imagined and experimented with countless other things that were unsuccessful because his ideas were centuries ahead of their time.

Needless to say, Tesla was a scientific giant. But he also had uncontrollable visions that could be described as hallucinations. These visions often tormented him, but at least on occasion they helped save his life. As a child he swam in the river near his hometown in Croatia. To impress his friends, he dove in and swam underwater to a diving dock some distance from shore, intending to swim under and surface where his friends couldn’t see him. He swam until he was sure he was off the dock and surfaced. He hit his head on a beam under the pier. He swam farther and back out, hitting his head once more. Now gasping for breath, he had a vision of the entire foam-filled dock and realized he could reach a point between the slats and breathe that way. Luckily for him, the strategy worked. He still took many tries before he reached open water.

A similar event occurred in the life of Harry Houdini, who made one of his escapes from a straitjacket after being lowered, in chains, through a hole drilled into the frozen Detroit River. He easily escaped the straitjacket and chains and was paddling to the surface toward the hole. To his horror, the hole was not on top of him. The current had carried him downstream and he had no idea where the escape hole was located. His chest was heaving from lack of air and he had resigned himself to the fact that he would grow. Instead, he saw a bright light overhead and swam toward it. He found his forehead above the water, but not in the hole. He had gotten into a pocket of natural air. Able to breathe, he fought the current back to where he found the chain and straitjacket. After two more trips back to his airbag, he located his leak and surfaced.

Both men had several more close escapes in their lives. Both died in unusual circumstances, although not the ones you imagine. Houdini liked to dare people to punch him in the stomach. He tensed his muscles and the blow never hurt. On one occasion, the batterer caught him off guard. Houdini folded into bread. The blow had ruptured his appendix, which was on the right side instead of the left. Tesla was struck by a motorist in 1943 while crossing an uncongested street.

Life is strange, isn’t it?