Chang And Eng Bunker, The Original #1

by Science Source

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Chang And Eng Bunker, The Original #1

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Science Source

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Photograph - Photograph

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Two well-dressed young Siamese men, joined at the abdomen by a band of tissue, stand together on a stage beside a bench and table on which is a chess board; the man on the left holds a badminton racquet; another badminton racquet and shuttlecock sits on the bench; the man on the right is looking up towards the curtain to his left. Chang and Eng Bunker (1811-1874) were the conjoined twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term "Siamese twins". The Bunker brothers were born on May 11, 1811 in Siam (Thailand) Because of their Chinese heritage (Thai Chinese father and Chinese-Malay mother), they were known as the "Chinese Twins". They were joined at the sternum by a small piece of cartilage. Their livers were fused but independently complete. In 1829, they were "discovered" in Siam by British merchant Robert Hunter and exhibited as a curiosity during a world tour. Upon termination of their contract they were determined to start living a normal life as much as possible They became naturalized United States citizens, settled on a plantation, in North Carolina, bought slaves and adopted the name "Bunker". The twins died on the same day in January 1874. Chang, who had contracted pneumonia, died rather suddenly in his sleep. Eng awoke to find his brother dead, and called for his wife and children to attend to him. A doctor was summoned to perform an emergency separation, but Eng refused to be separated from his dead brother. He died three hours later.

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March 13th, 2013

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