Thailand / USA: Chang and Eng Bunker, the original conjoined 'Siamese Twins', in their later...

Chang and Eng Bunker (May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874) were Thai-American 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 the province of Samutsongkram, near Bangkok, in the Kingdom of Siam (today's Thailand). Their fisherman father was a Chinese Thai, while their mother was a Chinese Malaysian. Because of their Chinese heritage, they were known locally as the 'Chinese Twins'. The brothers were joined at the sternum by a small piece of cartilage, and though their livers were fused, they were independently complete. In 1829, Robert Hunter, a Scottish merchant who lived in Bangkok, saw the twins swimming and realized their potential. He paid their parents to permit him to exhibit their sons as a curiosity on a world tour. When their contract with Hunter was over, Chang and Eng went into business for themselves. Determined to live as normal a life they could, Chang and Eng settled on their small plantation and married. Chang and Adelaide would become the parents of eleven children. Eng and Sarah had ten. The twins also became naturalized American citizens. On January 17, 1874, Chang died while the brothers were asleep. Eng awoke to find his brother dead and cried, 'Then I am going'. A doctor was summoned to perform an emergency separation, but he was too late. Eng died approximately three hours later.