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!

Pete Churchill

In 1998, I went with my family to Australia for a holiday. There were no plans except to go scuba diving on the Great Barrier reef. We ended up in 1770 purely because we had never stayed in a town that was a number. When we went out on a boat trip we ended up in a glass bottomed boat when a chap with a Australian accent said he recognised my Somerset accent and pin pointed it to within a few miles. I said you could only do that if you were local to the area, so he told me that he had emigrated from Wiltshire 30 years before, when I asked where, he said Lea. I said my nephew and niece went to school in Lea, when I told him their surname, it turned out that he went to school with my Brother in Law! The funniest thing was that he booked on the same trip as a pure spur of the moment decision and hadn't had another day off in years.

Rob Jenks

Whilst working in Basingstoke as a firefighter, I was detached to St Mary's fire station for the day as they were a Ff short. Just before lunchtime, I recieved a phone call from my mother asking if I could come to the Southampton General Hospital. As the hospital is on the fire ground of St Mary's fire station, I went to the hospital to discover that my grandfather had sadly passed away. If I had been at Basingstoke, I would not have been able to go to the hospital to say goodbye to him or support my mother at this very sad time! I believe this counts as a coincidence.

Parrallel Lives

When meeting my present wife we soon discovered thet we were divorced within a very short time of one another. We also both have mothers named Beryl, our fathers died within 6 months of each other. We both have brothers named Mike who's wifes names are Cheryl. A further link was that my father was Ukranian, and my sister-in-law from Canada had a Ukranian father. More than one coincidence or not???

When in Rome

I was on holiday in Rome last year (August), and it was around midday, we hurrdied to get onto the metro, and pushed our way on. I look at the person next to me holding onto the same pole as me, and he looked at me. Then all of a sudden we said each others name (reluctantly as we had changed a lot!) But to my relief It was a friend i hadnt seen since primary school, who was traveling around Europe, and was only in Rome for a day!

Mrs Diana C

I am English and many years ago I lived in Northern Thailand. I was walking in a forest and met a Thai lady, who turned out to be a Thai Princess. As we talked we found out that we had apartments five minutes from each other in West London. Later I realized I had met her daughter in Athens thirteen years before. We went on to be great friends until she died eight years ago and I have recently met her daughter in Thailand after twenty years.

re ebay buyer with same name.

I went to look at a flat for sale 11 years ago. I didn't know the name of the seller, till I got there , his name was Stephen Brown, same as my son's..Not only that the girl who showed me round was the daughter of a friend of mine whom I met at swimming pool, and I didn't know that that was her daughter till later. I did buy it, I love it and am sitting doing this in it just now.

Same song

I was on holiday with my husband in Malta in 2010 & one day we went to the beach cafe for some lunch. At the cafe they had music playing from one of the local radio stations. As we waited for our lunch to be prepared i was listening to my new mp3 player.The song i was listening to was an old song by the Mamas & Papas. When lunch arrived i took off my head phones & the song playing on the radio was the same Mamas & papas song i was listening to! What are the odds of that? Angela ..Kent

Cars.

My daughter changed her car . Some time after that we went a long run in the new car, I can't remember where to but was quite a distance. We parked and I suppose went shopping, when we came back to the car she said ' Look mum, my car' I said 'yes I know it's your car' then she said ' but look the the one parked beside it. ' You've guessed, it was her old car right beside it.. she took a photo of them, for no one would have believed it. And I've more but that's enough for now ...

'freens' turn up anywhere

Again in Cyprus. I went there every December for years. i was sitting in the lounge with a few friends I'd met there every year. This year we were told to go to a sister hotel from the one we usually went to as it was being refurbished. Anyway while we were sitting there I saw a couple going towards the dining room , quite far from where we were sitting, I said to my friends 'If I didn't know that my brother in law and his wife don't go abroad now, I'd swear that was my sister in law.' I didn't give it another thought till next morning and I was at the desk in the swimming pool area when I heard a voice behind me saying ' where do you think you are, the meadow centre ?' Our local swimming pool. I dont know who had the biggest surprise.... last short one coming up .

Petrol pump coincidence

In January of this year (2012) I purchased some petrol at a well known Superstore that only takes payment by Debit Card at the pump. When asked whether I required a receipt I pressed "Yes" and I received a printed receipt but with another behind it. Mine was correct i.e. Petrol - correct amount - correct date - and most important of all, the last 4 numbers of my debit card (which is all that is shown) were correct. The other receipt however was for diesel, the same date but 4 mins earlier, and to my relief the last 4 numbers of the card were different. The coincidence however is that the last 4 card numbers on the second reciept were my "PIN" for my card. I contacted my bank fearing a "scam" but they assured me it could only be a coincidence, but made note of my call anyway.

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