History of Siamese twins

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Transcript

00:00In and Jan Bunker are known around the world as the original Siamese twins.

00:05They were born on May 11, 1811 in Siam, now called Thailand.

00:10They were joined at the chest by a small piece of tissue.

00:13Because of them, the term Siamese twins became widely used.

00:17As teenagers, they were taken to the United States by Scottish merchants.

00:22At first, they were shown in public as part of their traveling show,

00:25but they managed their own tours and became quite wealthy.

00:30In 1839, they settled in North Carolina and became American citizens.

00:35A few years later, they married two sisters.

00:37Together, they had 21 children.

00:40Even though they were joined, they ran a farm with families

00:43and lived in two homes taking turns every few days.

00:46In and Jan died in 1824, but their family lives on.

00:50Today, they have more than 1,500 descendants.

00:53Some have become well-known working in U.S. politics.