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!

cousins hiking in Wyoming

My brother Jay and wife are in their 60's and vacationing in Alaska earlier this month and then headed south into western US for hiking....There was a family reunion in NY 7/4th weekend with my cousins....including cousin Marti and her family.......They headed west after that weekend....My brother Jay and my cousin Marti had no idea they were both headed to western US.....A couple of days ago Jay and Laura were walking down a trail in Wyoming and said to a young man "go Steelers" since he had a Steelers shirt on....That family of 5 was going up the mountain trail....As they passed each other Marti said that "you" look like my cousin (they had not seen each other in years).....Sure enough!!! To think if Jay had not said go Steelers they may not have noticed!!!! On a sidelight the same brother Jay and wife had gone to Boston a couple of months ago and was walking the back streets of the city when walking toward them was another cousin who Jay didn't even know lived in BOston!

An immediate answer.

I was making coffee this afternoon when I decided to open and vote the mail-in ballot that's been laying on the counter about 10 days. I marked my choices but when I tried to put the ballot into the envelope, it was sealed. I wondered aloud what I was supposed do so my ballot wouldn't be disqualified or mailed back. Then I heard the television report a news bit that a different glue had been used on the mail in ballots and that it was ok to open the envelope, insert the ballot and tape the envelope.

Two coincidences while holidaying in Hawaii

While on our way from New Zealand to Flagstaff Arizona to attend the 9th International Conference On Teaching Statistics (ICOTS9), my wife and I had several days' holiday in Hawaii staying at the quiet end of Waikiki Beach near the Honolulu Aquarium. While swimming on the beach we got talking to another tourist who told us that he lived in Winslow Arizona, just 60 miles away from Flagstaff, and that his surname was Winslow. Later that day we got talking to a Honolulu policeman who was shopping at the convenience store by our hotel, and we discovered that he had attended the same high school as me in New Zealand. And than you for a wonderful presentation at ICOTS David! I am now a regular visitor to www.understandinguncertainty.org.

777 7. 7.

In reference to "Birthday plain crash" ( posted 18. July ) I would like to mention that last year´s "San Francisco Boeing 777 Crash" occurr ed on the 7th of 7th .

My one and single pen friend

I have had only ONE pen friend in my life. (By "pen friend" I define a single partner in a continuous communication whom I have never met personally. ) I was reading "coincidence stories" in a web portal and HER story had the strongest appeal to me... We exchanged several emails and lots of coincidences occurred, some of them I would qualify "extraordinary"..., but it is only recently that I caught sight of her birthday on her Facebook: exactly the same es mine. --- (SAME YEAR too !) The mathematical chance of this I would figure 1:30 000. (Of course it depends e. g to which age-group you belong. If you are , say, 102, chances are less to find someone with exectly the same birthday in a random group... )

Impossible simultaneous occurrence

My friend was telling me how well she can braid hair on facebook messenger, so I asked her if she would braid mine and she said she'd do them anyway I want. We stopped talking, then about 45 minutes pass and we both apparently searched for pictures of intricate braids on google and sent each other the exact same picture simultaneously.

? odd

My Cousin was born ( Natural Birth ) hours before my Grandfather died ( old age / natural causes ) 1977. A year later on the same date, August 26th my Cousins Sister was born, also by natural delivery. They lived at the time in ( my Cousin still lives in ) my Grandfathers house.

Holiday friends and friends of friends of friends

Whilst on a weekend break in Berlin with friends I meet a couple from Manchester, we became good friends and discovered we would both be in Ibiza at the same time later that year, so we exchange numbers and said we would meet up in Ibiza. Two months later off I went to Ibiza. On the first day I met a girl from Newcastle and we went everywhere together (I miss her). On the third night, I told my new Geordie friend I'd arranged to meet the Manchester couple in a club and she said she would come with me. So off we went to meet them and we were talking when my Geordie friend ran off and starting hugging some couple - yep, the Manchester couple. They had meet in Liverpool years before and were close friends who had lost touch. Small world!

Birthday Plane Crash

The Malaysian Airlines MH17 (remember the 17 there) that crashed on 17 July 2014 first flew on 17 July 1997. I was born on 17 July 1997 so of course, it crashed on my birthday and was technically the same age as me, 17 years old. Take the date 17/07/97, way too many 7's, and the plane that crashed was a Boeing 777. Massive and unsettling coincidences, especially for an aerophobe. RIP to the 298 people who died yesterday and condolences to their families

Music Mystery

3 days in a row, I encountered some strange coincidences. I'm beginning to think they're not. And strangely, they all had to do with music. Day 1: It was a school morning and I was entering my school listening to one of my favorite songs The Ballad of Mona Lisa by Panic! At the disco. My friend stopped me in the hallway to show me his new phone case. (Also he was listening to music). In the beginning he was showing me the back of his phone case. He turned his phone around and happen to be listening to the Ballad of Mona Lisa by Panic! At the disco. Day 2: Around Christmas time, in art class, my teacher was playing some old school music. The music reminded me of this toy my little sister. It's a dog and it sings the song Shout! but in Christmas version. I told my friend sitting beside me about the toy. A couple songs later, the original Shout! came on. Day 3: I was on my way to basketball practice, and I was telling one of my teammates about how some of these songs never come on radio. We had a discussion about California Girls and how stupid the music video was. And guess what. It came on the radio.

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