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 York, New York

I was walking through a shopping centre one day when I saw a young white youth dressed like a rapper, trying to look cool. I thought to myself, 'ha! he thinks he's cool but he isn't. He thinks he's a cool black man from New York or something'. Just then, a black man wearing a NY cap (New York Yankees) came round the corner! I thought it was very spooky that this chap turned up just as I had that phrase in my head - was there a mental connection between us? What did it mean? Just pure chance, I now realise.

Ace of Spades

I was watching an episode of the Simpsons one day whilst listening to the Motorhead song 'Ace of Spades' on my iPhone. As you do. Homer was in a casino playing blackjack I think. As he turned over the ace of spades card, the lyric 'the Ace of Spades' was 'sung' by Lemmy. In the exact same instant! It was a simple but quite startling coincidence.

Daijuli

Greetings from Finland! I was born in February thirteenth (13.02) at 12.03 pm. My weight was 3120g. And now my address is xxxxxxxxxxx 12 D 13, previous address was xxxxxxx 3 D 20. All those numbers following me all the time.

random visit

I met a chap in Bulgaria, in 2006 who is a taxi driver aged about 36. He was very helpful, he had never left the country and was scared of flying. After 6 years of meeting him over there (I have a flat on the Black Sea) I finally convinced him that he should fly over for a visit and said he could stay with my family. When he arrived I took him sightseeing to London. As we went down the escalator at Paddington to the underground he started to shout at a person going the opposite way up. We got off and followed back up and were met by a lady who was his schoolteacher when he was at school some 20 years previously. He had never kept in contact, when she left the school she moved to Sofia, some 4 hours drive away. She had never visited England and decided to travel only a few weeks previously for a short city break to sight see.

Uncle Ben

Whilst discussing racism on facebook I had cause to refer to the 'uncle ben' stereotype referencing the type of 'yessir boss' character which has become a figure of ridicule. That same day,I chose to watch 'brush strokes' on drama channel,an old comedy show about a painter who has a slow witted friend called Elmo. In this episode,Elmo appeared asking if Jacko the painter wanted rice pudding and was carrying 3 boxes of 'uncle ben' rice! Later the same day 'come dine with me' featured one of the contestants discussing the uk immigrant/racism issue that had been the subject I had been discussing on facebook. They were eating rice as one of the dishes!

Pen Pal Address

When I was 12 years old, I was waiting in the dentist's office for my father. I was finished with my appointment and Dad was to pick me up and drive me home. Since he was almost never on time, I picked up a teen magazine from the office table and started thumbing through it. When I got to the back of it there were several pages of requests fir pen pals. At the time, I was very interested in having pen pals to write to so I eagerly read all of the ads. To my amazement, I came across one with my hometown, Perth Amboy, NJ. I read the ad and realized that it was an older boy with interests that I didn't have. But still, even though his name was unfamiliar I memorized it and his address as well. As it turned out, Dad had a client and couldn't pick me up so the receptionist said I should take the bus home. I got to the bus stop and was patiently waiting when a young main--junior or senior in high school--walked up to the bus stop. He dropped a small black valise next to his feet. It attracted my attention because Dad had one just like that he used to store coins.

The Hunger Games

Last night (8-5-14, 10:30) I was reading Chapter 2 of The Hunger Games. The fictional storyteller, Katniss Everdeen, revealed that her birthday was 8th May (no idea what year as the book is set somewhere in the near future!). I'm sure plenty of other people were reading the book yesterday as well but I did find this a surprise.

Same Name and Place of Birth

In January, I met a gentleman named James from South Carolina, with whom I've become quite smitten. I learned that we were both adopted, both worked for the same agency, at some point, and both have daughters the same age with the same name. However, I had not had contact with him since. Because I was married when I met him, nothing came out of the encounter. I have since separated and still think about the possibility, often. Today, I met someone on-line whose name is James and who is from SC, also. Definitely a coincidence. I'm hoping it somehow means, I will cross paths with January James again, in the near future. Stacey

65 Coincidences

Here is a weird coincidence having to do with the number 65 http://coincidencetoday.blogspot.com/2014/04/65-coincidences.html

Serendipity

This is a recount of situations riddled with coincidence after a significant person briefly came into my life.<br /> I live in a busy city where years can pass without accidentally running into any of my close friends, but I do somehow run into specific people at specific times, repeatedly. I met a man - let's call him K - through a mutual friend (our only mutual friend). I am a freelance designer and work in many different locations all the time, he works part time at an office, at the time I didn't know where. We had an instant and palpable chemistry. It was so bad we would stammer and blush in each others' company, which is not typical behaviour for either one of us.<br /> At the time K was involved with someone else so we reluctantly parted ways before acting on our impulses but I couldn't get him out of my mind.<br /> A few months passed and I got to work on a job in a studio in the center of the city. Not long after I got inside the building I received a text on my phone. It was from K, he just saw me go into the building where he works.

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