Cambridge Coincidences Collection

As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.

understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.

Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.

Well I Never!

Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University wants to know about your coincidences!

It happens often and there a loads I can tell you.

someone looking at a book with over 3,000 films - I asked the person if he had seen the Limey - he was reading about it when I asked. I was across the room and could not see what he was reading. Said something and it appears on the TV - this can happen several times a week and then it won't happen again for months. There are a lot more. Went to New York and bumped into someone I knew from the UK. A stranger came up to me at a station on a Tuesday and said she had seen me in Huddersfield - I live in London - I said yes, I was there the weekend - she said no, I saw you there two weeks ago. I had only been there once in my life and only the previous weekend

Recurring name

As a journalist who writes about business and cars, I was at my office in a downtown Dallas high rise surfing the Internet about 10 a.m. when I came across an article in a British newspaper that seemed particularly well written (I think it was about the Iraq War). Scrolling up to find the byline, I looked at the name: "Jonathan Steele." At that EXACT moment, the phone rang and I picked it up. The caller introduced himself as "Jonathan Steele" and said he was calling to see if I was interested in using Monster.com for ad listings. "What did you say your name was?" I asked, dumbfounded. "Jonathan Steele," he said. I told him about the coincidence, and he didn't seem that amazed about it. About 30 minutes later, I got a call from a car delivery service about a car I was scheduled to review. When I went to the parking garage to sign the paperwork, the driver introduced himself as "Jonathan Steele." I asked him to repeat his name and told him about the previous coincidence. He didn't seem that amazed.

Miss Reynolds

A place I worked at a few years ago I was surprised to find that I and two other women all had a daughter who shared the same birthday. Not that unusual, except our daughters were all born on Christmas Eve.

Blackadder!

This just happened to me yesterday (July 17, 2015). I was returning some DVD's to the library, and two of them contained episodes of the Blackadder TV show. Rgith after dropping off the DVD's, I walked over to the books-for-sale shelf, and picked up a book I hadn't seen there before. It was entitled "Spud - The Madness Continues," about a South African schoolboy nicknamed Spud. The description on the back mentioned Spud's friend Vern Blackadder.

The same macaroni everywhere

I asked my girlfriend to get some fancy pasta for me to use to enter a cooking contest party of her co-workers. She got farfalle (bowtie macaroni). I had a temporary job making deliveries, and within a few weeks of getting the macaroni, I made a delivery to a bar/restaurant. In the parking lot I noticed a box that had broken open, and the contents were sealed in a plastic bag that was sticking out of the box. Inside the bag was bowtie macaroni.

We kept running into each other

I dropped off a job application with the receptionist at an office. Weeks later, we bumped into each other after dark and out of doors in another part of town. (I didn't recognize her, but she recognized me and mentioned that I had left off the application.) After some time had passed, we ran into each other at least one more time, and likely twice at two different times and places. (It's been 25+ years now, so I don't remember these details any more.) I said that we should get together on purpose to talk about this odd coincidence, to see if there was something common in our personal histories. She agreed to a day and time to meet at a store. She didn't show up. A long time later, I was getting a haircut at a school for hairstylists, and she was a student there cutting someone else's hair. That was the last time I saw her. All the encounters took place within about a 2-year period.

The Dolphin Pendant

I was walking with someone and brought up the subject of dolphins, saying somewhat jokingly that I was thinking about writing a novel with a dolphin as of the main characters. Not a minute later we were stopped at a traffic light, and on the ground I saw a dulled silver-colored piece of metal attached to a shoelace. I picked it up to examine it, and it was a pendant in the shape of a dolphin.

Thematic Sycronistic Cluster

I fell in love with this girl Jess and we knew at the same time. Feb 4th. Everything about us was amazing. She was separated and having a tough time. She wanted her space so she left. I had been in love once years before with Lauren and had made a deal (prayed I guess) with her dead father that if he had brought her back to me I would never love again. Her father had died on July19th the year before we had gotten together. My birthday is July 19th (tomorrow). Also, Lauren and I had broken up twice on Feb 4th 2006 and 2008. When Jess had left, I messaged Lauren and asked her to speak with her father for me, which she did. The next day Jess came back. We went out to dinner that night. That night started a string of girls from my past sending me messages that were unprovoked and most sexual. I felt as though he was testing me so I had showed Jess all the messages so she knew I was not the one provoking them. Months later Jess started having a tough time again. I told her that even to this day I get a little emotional when I think of Lauren and that it is natural. I said that we had this connection and it wasn't about the sex.

Coincidence of Dates

My parents were married on December 12th, I was born on December 12th, my daughter was born on December 12th. My former husband, from a former marriage, lost a son at the age of 15. He passed away on June 15th when our daughter was 15.

Phone number has the same numbers

My boyfriend and I have always had 11:11 and 2.22 appear constantly and have both been fascinated by synchronicity of events and felt connected on a spiritual level even over vast distances. We have been separated by circumstances and I haven't had contact with him for over two months. I can however feel his presence every now and then and know we will be reunited soon. We feel we have known each other in a past life and so it doesn't feel that bad to wait to see each other as we know we have plenty of time, perhaps next life! For some reason I can never remember his cell phone number and don't have it stored in my phone (its a long story but I try to resist calling him and that's the best way for me). This morning I tried and tried to remember the number but just couldn't for the life of me. (I have easily remembered it before and have been ringing it for two years. ). I had to wait until I got to work to check his number. I remembered reading an article about soul mates or twin flames having unusual coincidences, one of the examples given was similar phone numbers. I never even thought to compare ours.

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