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!

Lucy Loves Music

About seven years ago I made a friend with a woman named 'Lucy' on Myspace. I was attracted to her profile because of the lovely painting she used for her profile picture. 'Lucy' was a music teacher from San Francisco, and although I used to live near there, this was not the basis of our coincidence. We emailed each other for several months about Thanksgiving, recipes, San Francisco and families. One day we were instant messaging and I happened to mention that my then-husband was Welsh. She told me that she had Welsh friends whom she had met years before when travelling with her sister by rail around Scotland. They met two friends on one of the journeys and got talking about common interests in music. Although they went their separate ways, they kept bumping into each other and ending sharing their holiday and having a wonderful time singing tunes from the musicals! This was years ago, and although they had visited each other in San Francisco, they had lost contact at least 10 years previously. So when 'Lucy' asked me if I might know her long-lost friends....I said, this was doubtful as my husband came from Pembrokshire.

Surprising Repetitions

While shopping in the town centre in Cardiff I went into St John's church to light a few candles and have a snack and a hot drink in the little café there. I started talking to a lady . It was the first time that we had met. We both had lived in the same area of Cardiff at different times and she still attended a social club there for senior citizens. I mentioned my aunty June who I knew as being a very active member at the club. We had lost touch and I had not seen her for many years. She knew her and I asked her to please remember me to her. We said our goodbyes and I set off for the local bus station. Walking along the street I glanced at somebody in passing. I looked again. I couldn't believe it. It was my Auntie June. We had a good chat about times past and exchanged addresses. Very strange.

Bart Gets Hit by a Car

We go out in Brighton with my friend Grant, jumping from empty bar to empty bar, and end up in one with an arcade machine that has a game called Hex on it, one of my favourite games. We play a couple of times, and one of the categories at one point is Simpsons Episodes, which we of course choose. I get the answer, it is "Bart Gets Hit by a Car". The following morning we go to have breakfast, we find a place round the corner from the hotel and sit by the window. A truck parks just outside the place, and I spot a Bart Simpson plush stuck to the front grill, as if it had been hit by the truck. Gon PS: I am collecting all the coincidences like these that happen to me quite too often... could send you a link to the notes once I'm done.

The thief who told his story

My friends Family Business, (a precious metal refinery)was burglarized in the early 1990's and a SolidGold Brick weighing 40 pounds, was stolen. This ruined the business. he 20 years later my friend met a drug adicted man at a drug dealers house.My friend had become a drug addict and criminal over the years after her family had lost everything due to the burgulary. So this man tells her he was gonna rob an abandoned house later that had lots of valuables in it. She wanted in on the deal. They met up later at his place and began planning the. burgulary. Then the man tells my friend a story about a time 20 years prior, in which he robbed a. precious metal refinery and the only thing he took was a 40 pound block of solid Gold. He told how he had gone there only to have some coins. looked at and weighed. The owners brother hzd shown him around the refinery and even. showed him the gold block. He came back after hours and broke in . My friend couldnt even speak. She. made excuse to leave for an hour and called her family with this astonishing. revelationon and expected her Father would come and seek his revenge. instead he r father.

3 time neigbor

In August 2001, after a divorce from husband of 5 years, I made a snap decision to move from North Dallas, TX. to Ruidoso NM. My Best friend Tiger and his w ife had relocated there &several years prior. One week after arriving to my new home in this beautiful little resort Village, I decided toone ofthe little drinking pubs in downtown . It was a Sunday evening and I was the only patron sitting at the bar (or anywhere else) other than 3 local policemen who I chatted with oit of boredom. Soon I heard a loud motorcycle outside pull close to the open saloon doors. Then it went silent again. I turned and looked towards tje door and saw a "niker" in leather riding gear , tattoos, & long hair and beard. Yuck ! I thought ! Hate that whole biker lifestyle.He had a female companion who walked straight to bar, ordered drimk, and introduced herself.

pure chance

After working in my current job for about one year one of my workmates asked where specifically I lived in the county that I am from and I told him. He asked if it was near another village and I said it’s right beside my village. He said his friend was from there and he asked if I knew her but I never heard of her or her family. I had just broken up with my boyfriend who I had been living with and was looking for a room in a house the following week, I rang some numbers and when I rang one the name in the voicemail was really familiar but I didn’t realise why and thought nothing of it – it didn’t connect at the time and I booked a time to see the room. One male and one female lived in the house and the male one answered the door and showed me around downstairs. He asked where I was from and when I said he said the girl lives near their too and the name clicked into place. He showed me upstairs and there she was and she straight away asked where I worked and realised we both knew my workmate. It was really weird because we both live three hours away from home in another county and city and had ended up meeting there even though we are only ten minutes away from each other at home.

Telephone number

I lived abroad for 20 years,my boyfriend sadly passed away,so I returned home to my native country. I kept my boyfriends phone number in my contacts,because I could not bear to delete it. When I first arrived back in my country,I was busy looking for accommodation,when an old friend of mine hands me a phone number and said,"call this number,its a friend who owns an apartment,and he is wanting to rent it" I looked at the telephone number,and it was exactly the same number as my deceased boyfriends,of course,the area code was different, due to it being in a different country,but,the actual phone number was exactly the same. Can anyone tell me what the chances of that are? I find it amazing. Having said that,I once worked with woman who had the same phone number as me,only her area code was different. I often have strange coincidences happen to me,and always wonder,what's the point?

old friend

today I met a high school friend on the tube near my house and sat in the same carriage. Then on my way back home about 5 hours later got on the tube home and met the same person again sitting in the same carriage as I was. Wanted to know what are the odds of this happening

Parallel lives

Well it is kind of mine and some friends of mine. I believe that all this project is very interesting and so, these are my coincidences. In my high-school I was in the same class with a boy that was born in the same day, month and year as me: 21 July 1991. One of my best-friends in high-school has the same birthday as my boyfriend: 10 March 1991 and I found out one year after I have meet them. And now with Facebook and it's birthday plan I find that a lot of friends of mine (real friends not just adds on Facebook) have the same birthday. I hope this helps. I look forward to see what is going to happen. Have a nice day.

The iron mountain coincidence.

I was on a coach traveling from Kent in England to the Highlands of Scotland which is about 600 miles, I was trying to kill time so I decided to tidy up my mobile phone contacts, I had a friends work number which needed updating so as I selected her work contact I looked out of the coach window and 2 mtrs across the pavement and in big letters on the wall almost close enough to touch was the name of her company `IRON MOUNTAIN' which is a data security company. It would seem that our coach was stuck in the traffic at exactly that point in a 600 mile journey and I happened to look up at the exact time of updating her work contact number. Indeed there are three branches in Scotland ...Edinburgh, Aberdeen & Glasgow and this was the Glasgow branch. I could understand it better if we were talking about a branch of McDonolds but her company has only got a handful of branches in the whole country.........Whats are the chances of this.

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