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!

Proof of ESP

This is less of a coincidence and more proof of ESP: I once rode into town on my bike,upon which I carried a 4digit coded bike lock. As I entered town to park my bike,I noticed an unkempt man who seemed to be talking to himself,but then I noted that he seemed to be responding to passers-by. As someone passed him he appeared to be commenting on perhaps what they may have been thinking - eg if a man passed him,the unkempt man might say "Yes,but she won't this time",and this he did for each person passing him. As I approached to park my bike,knowing my 4 digit code - the man turned to me and uttered out loud 4 digits - 3 of which were the correct digits in sequence of my bike lock. There was no possible way he could have known the code,or that I was thinking of it at that moment. Oddly,the same bike lock disappeared from my bike some time later - which may have been absent mindedness on my part,but I sometimes wonder whether someone who knew the code had taken it because they knew the code. Go figure....was this guy on drugs...an alien.....an X-man.......what gives???!

My Tube

I had arranged to meet a colleague in London for work, myself and two others set off from the North of England at 4am for the meeting at 9am, we travelled down by car, so after arriving safely we hopped onto the tube to travel into central London. Now for anyone who has travelled on the tube or metro, those trains ar packed in rush hour, so you can understand how amazed we were to have the colleague we were due to meet get on the same carriage as us on his way to the meeting, given the fact that each train has around six carriages with numerous door, what were the chances of us all been in the same place at the same time? what makes it funny is that there were four witness’s to the strange coincidence.

my friend called me from beyond

I had problems with my phone and the repair men came one morning. They gave me the different number at the end of their visit, saying that the other line could not be repaired. The number they gave me was 555 881. This was exactly symmetrical to my friend's number, which was 188 555. I rang her to tell her, and her mother told me that she had died that same morning.

Random encounter

In 1987 I was a teenager and went on holiday with my father, who wanted to take me to see Rome, Florence and Venice over the course of a lovely week in August. My stepbrother was inter-railing around Europe with his girlfriend - that was all I knew of his itinerary or planning. In Venice, my father and I stopped off down a little alleyway to grab a pizza and a coffee in a tiny one-room boutique. As I was ordering, my heart nearly leaped out of my chest when I heard my name bellowed out; my stepbrother had just walked in!

Husband & Wife - Same Birthday

My wife and I have the same birthday although as I repeatedly point out I am a toy boy - if only by approximately 16 hours! Other than being a talking point the main issue is that forms requiring both of our birth dates are sometimes returned to us with a request that the date of birth "error" be corrected.

Bell ringers birthday coincidences

I was born on my Father's birthday, August 19th, 1954 for me, 1923 for him. Another ringer in the same bell tower was also born on August 19th but in 1962 also on her Father's birthday-August 19th 1923 As well!

One of many!

24th November 2002 my neighbours gave me 3 Kenny G c.d's,who I had never heard of but had admired when they had played him previously. 28th November 2002 went to a University of the Third Age presentation about the baking industry at the end of which the presenter got out a saxaphone and played a Kenny G number!

Norwich City/Purple Gang Coincidences

My first coincidence: In June 2004 I was sitting in the departure lounge of Dinard Airport in France, awaiting a flight back to the UK. Next to me were two strangers who struck up a conversation. One was from Norfolk (Swaffham?) while the other was from London. After a while, the Londoner announced that he was a huge Chelsea fan and asked the other if he liked football. “Not really” came the reply. “But I sort of follow Norwich City. In fact, one of the few matches I’ve ever seen was between Norwich and Chelsea, about 30 years ago. It was abandoned five minutes from the end because of fog”. “League Cup Semi-Final!” enthused the Londoner, “I was at that game too – that's amazing!” But little did they know that I too – despite living in Colchester and having no real interest in either team – had also been at that very same football match, in 1972…… In fact, I would imagine that if one takes a planeload of 150 or more passengers, the likelihood of any three individuals on the flight having something obscure in common is quite high.

Number plate date

In the summer of 2004, myself and my parents were on holiday in Austria. On 14th August, whilst walking through a village near to where we were staying, we walked past a car with a number plate that read '14AUG 04'!

paul gaffney

My parents both died of lung cancer.They both died at 62,on the same day(11th november). Both died 2 years apart,which made them both 62 years old. Both funerals were on the same date(2 years apart).Its a nice thought they both died on the same dates,but its a coincidence.

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