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!

New housemate (chosen at random) is twin sister of my ex's new girlfriend

I live in London and recently moved out of my houseshare. We advertised my room on Spareroom.co.uk and got a number of applicants. We chose someone to move in, who we didn't know and didn't have much information about beyond her profile. While helping her unpack, and chatting, we realised we had both previously lived in a different major city in the UK. In the same area. Then we found out we knew some of the same people. And then we found out that her twin sister is now going out with my ex.

Family

My husband, my mom, and my cousin on my dad's side share athe same birthday, January 2. My son and I were born on the same date too March 28. I am the only female in the U.S with my name.

Race Finishing Coincidence

In September 2011 I took part in my second Great North Run with around 50,000 other runners. As I crossed the finish line a fellow runner (who I had not seen before) and I shared a friendly look of exhaustion. He exclaimed that he had managed to get under 2 hours for the first time and showed me his watch. We congratulated each other on the run and went on our own separate ways.<br /> In June 2012, nearly a year later, I took part in the Blaydon Race in which over 3500 runners took part. As I crossed the line the runner next to me showed me his watch with his time... I recognised the watch and then realised it was the same runner I had crossed the line with at the Great North Run. When I mentioned it, he remembered me too.<br /> Some may say that this isn't that much of a coincidence because we clearly run at around the same pace so we're bound to finish together. But with both races having such large numbers running, the starts are staggered. We would have therefore had to cross the start line together and finish together.

Childhood neighbor

I was on FB and a old friend from HS (class of 96) sent me a friends request. I accepted his request and noticed he was married to a woman that happened to be my neighbor back in (1984-1988). Being curious i started looking through her FB page and seen her dad, mother, sister and brother which brought back old memories of my childhood and the time spent playing in their yard and the few occasions her mother babysat me. I haven't seen this girl in 27 yrs and at that exact same moment i was looking at her FB page her younger brother was being interviewed by a local tv news reporter on my TV. I had just looked at his name on her page and BAM! there he was, on my t,v. My HS friend who sent me the friends request not only happened to be married to a girl i used to be neighbors with but he and i also share the same first names and his last name (Matt) is also my middle name (Matt) which happens to be his brother-in-law, my old neighbors, first name (Matt). I'm sorry for the confusion, hope you were able to follow along

widow

I being 34 had my first son at 25 and my daughter at 28 just meet someone special her husband died 4 years before I met her.but he has the same name as I her son was born the same year and her daughter was born the same year also this special woman is the age as my ex... 4 coincidences is just unbelievable

Same taxi driver in a city.

First arriving to Barcelona at (10-11 am) we took a taxi between the train station and the Hotel in the city center. The driver was a very funny guy and easy to remember. Later on the day (19 hrs), we stop for a taxi on the other side of the city to go back to the hotel... Same Driver, some vey unlikely in a city with 10481 taxis in the city (1). It was a fist for the taxi driver too. (1) http://www.stac.cat/datos-estadisticos-de-taxis-en-catalunya/

London Tube encounter

I used to be a member of an amateur dramatic group in Galway, Ireland and became very friendly with one woman in particular. I left this wonderful city to work in London. About 18 months after leaving I was standing with my boyfriend on the Notting Hill Circle Line platform to Baker Street. We had a game that one was to pick a spot on the platform that would stop in front of a door. It was my turn and so I picked a spot. The train came in and I won that one as we were standing in front of a single door when it stopped. </p> <p>The first person to get out of the train was the woman from the amateur dramatic group I was very friendly with whilst living in Galway. I had no idea she was living in London (no mobile phones then and I had moved since giving her my address). We met up a few times after that.

My travelling travel agent

I booked a round the world ticket with a travel agent. It was very bespoke - just the key flights with my daughter and I doing independent travel between airports. We were crossing from San Pedro de Atacama into the Bolivian altiplano six months later, swapping transport from Chilean buses to Bolivian 4x4s. The drivers had stopped for a coffee break and all the passengers were milling around waiting. I was talking to someone about my trip when I heard a voice say "are you Julian?". It was the lady whom had booked all my tickets doing a three month tour of South America and doing this same journey in the opposite direction, at exactly the same spot at the same time at the other side of the world!

Crossed Paths

In the week after Christmas 2014 we went to see Peter Pan, a Pantomime in Dartford Kent, The venue was some 60 miles by road from our home in West Sussex. Whilst waitiing in the theatre's foyer for admission to the auditorium were were standing close to a family which included a young man who I guess would be in his mid twenties. Unfortunately he was "not all there" and repeatedly pulled an old mobile phone out fo his pocket and had a fairly loud but incoherent "conversation" with no-one as the phone was obviously not switched on. This happened probably half a dozen times whilst we were waiting and was tolerated or ignored by his family and friends. The doors opened and the family merged into the audience and we enjoyed and couple of hours pantomime starring Craig Revell Horwood, The following weekend we took an hour long train ride to London to visit the National Portrait Gallery and wandered round for an hour or so admiring the high quality paintings. As we were leaving we took a short diversion to get back to the main staircase/escalator. And who was coming up as we were going down?

Similar names jobs

I left my old job to continue a small business with a widow after the passing of her husband,my second name is Farai so was her husband and their son, I'm n auto electrician so was the late , my first name is COLLEN and the widow's LORREEN I was born on the 03/08/70 she was born on 09/08/85 same month we share the same totem " monkey" we are not related but originally come from the same tribe, I found the pattern striking, would b glad if someone can explain

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