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.

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Well I Never!

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

birthday coincidences

I worked with someone who was born on 29th February. His two brothers, one four years older, one eight years older, were also born on 29th February. He said that their mother's three labours were all spontaneous. </p> <p>29th February is no more unlikely than any other date in a leap year, but four years is not the most common gap between children.

Song on radio

I was driving in my car and talking about our favourite cover versions of songs with my friend. I'd just mentioned Kirsty MacColl's version of Days by The Kinks when I turned on the radio and it was playing. What are the chances?

Neil Pearson

In 2000 I was in London with my (soon to be) girlfriend. We went to a friend's house and met an Australian couple for the first time. A week later, she and I decided (at very short notice) to take a week-long camping trip to Devon and Cornwall (as she had never been). Towards the end of that trip we ended up staying at a hostel in a tiny village called Zennor. The following morning, as we went out to my car - out came the same Australian couple, and they were parked right next to us in the reasonably large car park. When we'd seen them in London, we'd had no idea that we were going to go to Cornwall, and that topic of conversation had not arisen anyway. Although they had planned a west-country trip (I should re-iterate that they had not mentioned this to us when we saw them in London), they'd had no idea where exactly they were going to go to until they got there. Although perhaps not as amazing as some of the other stories on here, but I still think it is a pretty interesting coincidence.

Birthdays on same day of week

My three children were born with about 2 years between them, each on different days of the week. My husband and I were also born on different days of the week and in different years. Our birthdays now connect as follows (picking the current year by way of example, as of, and ending on, 1 March): Husband (Tuesday) - two weeks - wife (Tuesday). Then, a few months later: Child 3 (Wednesday) - six weeks - child 1 (Wednesday) - six weeks - Christmas Day (Wednesday) - one week - New Year's Day (Wednesday) - one week - child 2 (Wednesday).

Familiar house

I was visiting a friend in Bristol and we went for a day trip mountain biking in South Wales at Afan Argoed. As we sat outside the cafe at lunchtime, we got talking to a fellow visitor. We told him we had come up from Bristol for the day. "I used to live there" he said, "which part?" My friend told him (I forget the name of the place). "Really? That's where I lived. Which street?". You can see where this is going...this totally random bloke used to live in the exact same house we'd left that morning.

It's a small world ..........chance meeting

In May 1988 after 3 years working I took a 3 month break from my work (accountants after a law degree) to travel to Burma, Hong Kong and China with my wife (my girlfriend at the time and who was also taking a break after qualifying as a lawyer) before I went to law school for a year to continue to become qualified as a lawyer. I had fairly closely on occasions with one client involved in the insurance sector (we never met but only ever spoke on the telephone) and I had decided to use his services for various personal insurance policies pre the proposed trip. However, just before our departure at the airport I suddenly realised I had not completed all paperwork required for the insurances so I rang him to explain I was about to get on a plane and would be away for 3 months travelling abroad to Burma, Hong Kong and China and that I would deal with matters on my return.

UNEXPECTED RENDEZVOUS

1.0 I was born in 1950 and went to the Verdin Grammar School at Winsford, Cheshire. Kids left school at the end of U5th year or at the end of U6th. I stayed on, others didn't, including Hilary Torlop who joined the Civil Service at 16 ( 1967) and went to work in London. In spring 1969 I attended a selection board for the RAF at Biggin Hill which entailed train travel Winsford -Crewe -Euston- undeground to Victoria-Westerham. I was strap hanging on the underground to Victoria when I felt someone tug at my trouser leg. It was Hilary, last seen in '67, she was sitting on the seat next to me...... 2.0 In August 2008 my wife and I went to London for my birthday weekend staying at a hotel in Kensington. We arrived Friday and were leaving on Sunday. The weekend was bright and sunny and London even more crowded than usual. On the Saturday we walked to and around the V&A and from there to Harrods. My wife works for B&Q in Nottingham. We crossed a busy pedestrian crossing to get to Harrods and as we got to the Harrods side we literally bumped into John and his wife, one of Chris's colleagues from her store.

Double coincidence

Some years ago my husband and I went to work in Nigeria. The local priest offered to take us to meet our nearest English neighbour (60 miles away). On arriving I was astonished to see Fred, my neighbour from my childhood in Leeds. At the same time my husband ran up to him and threw his arms around him. Turned out that when my husband was a student at Leeds University - before we met (in London) - he had lodged with Fred who by that time had married and moved to a different part of Leeds.

my sister

When I was 17, I was staying in Padova[Italy] with my boyfriend. My sister [age 14] was in Birmingham [UK]. One day I went to see Fantasia for the first time. So did she. We had not talked about the film, ever. About 5 years later, I lived in Liverpool, she was still in Birmingham. I heard a lovely tune on the radio and went out and bought the LP - Don't Cry for Me Argentina. Same day, so did she. Neither of us bought records usually.

Woolworth Building New York

Out in my car one evening getting petrol and shopping, and was driving was listening to a Radio Four programme about the Woolworth Builiding in New York. It was extremely interesting - its facade, its significance to New York, and those who built it etc etc. It was so interesting that I had to tell my wife about the programme on my return home. Whilst I had been out she had been going through, and getting rid of, her old college and university stuff of 15 years ago (due to us moving house in a few week time). At the moment I recalled to her the Woolworth Building she stopped me and said, "Is this the building" as she turned the folder she was looking at through towards me? So, whilst I had been out she had looked through about 30 folders (of American Studies, as well as many other. with many pages of notes etc), and at the moment I was telling her about the Woolworth Builidng she happened to be on the page of her folder with a picture and article about that builidng.

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