Random Things About The Strange Lives Of Chang And Eng Bunker (14 items)

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  (#8) One Took To The Bottle While The Other Did Not

  Chang supposedly took to the bottle much more aggresively after their daughters passed away, although Eng did not follow suit. Scientists and doctors noticed that although they were connected, the effects of the alcohol did not transfer from one twin to the other. Chang's alcoholism affected his health in several ways as they grew older and may have been a contributing factor in his death. 
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  (#9) Eng Helped Chang Recover From Partial Paralysis

  Chang had a stroke that paralyzed his right side in 1870. This made mobility difficult for the twins, and so Eng did his best to accommodate Chang. He made a sling to prop up his right leg. Between the support of his brother and a cane, Chang was able to regain some mobility, though he was never able to fully recover. 
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  (#1) Their Connection Was A Small Piece Of Flesh

  As Chang and Eng grew, their mother encouraged them to exercise and stretch their connecting band as much as they could to give them more mobility. Chang and Eng were quite active and could do much of the same activities that other children could, like swimming and running. Doctors who studied them saw that both boys could feel a pin prick in the center of the band, but as they moved the pin to one side, only one twin would feel it. Chang and Eng could also feel when the other was being tickled, and could taste whenever the other twin ate something sour. 
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  (#14) Their Descendants Still Throw Family Reunions

  Chang and Eng's large family gave way to many descendants. They have somewhere around 1,500 in the 21st century, and hundreds of them still get together for family reunions. Other participants at those events have included the Thai ambassador to the United States and descendants of the Bunker's wet nurse, Aunt Grace. There have been plenty of twins born into the family, but none of them have been conjoined. 
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  (#6) They Had A Large And Unconventional Family

  Although very few of their neighbors approved of their marriages, Chang and Eng seemed to lead a normal, if not logistically mysterious, sex life. Their first children were born only six days apart, and another pair were only eight days apart. They would go on to have 21 children between the two of them - Chang and Adelaide had 10 children while Eng and Sarah had 11. 
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  (#11) They Lived As One And Died The Same Way

  After suffering from ill health and alcoholism for several years, Chang caught a bad cough in 1874 that may have been pneumonia. At one point on January 17th, Eng felt that something was wrong and asked his son to check on his brother. When told he was dead, his response was, "Then I am going." And sure enough, within three hours, Eng had also passed away. His last request was to have his brother's body brought closer to him. 

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