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!

Birthday Coincidence.

In 2008, my whole family went out to a Thai Restaurant in Romford to celebrate my Grandad's 70th Birthday. We all decided that it would be nice for my grandad to open his cards and presents before the meal began. My grandad has three children, two living in Romford and one living in Chelmsford. They did not have any communication with one another about the details of the presents and cards that they had brought for their dad which means that they also all went out separately to do the birthday shopping. Now, on opening the cards from the three children my grandad discovered that my dad, my auntie and my uncle had all brought him the same birthday card. My family found this extremely strange considering they had not spoken about presents until the night and they would not tell each other which card they brought anyway because that is not as important. We all found it extremely coincidental and have since been amazed at how this happened.

Lost Relative

My wife and I stayed in a small B&B in a small village by the Seine. We became friendly with an english couple who lived near Bayeux, who were there for one night only on their way home. The next day, we were going to Beuvron en Auge and since this was on their way home, we said we would meet for coffee at a cafe they knew. We had coffee but they did not come. We had a walk in the village and went into a creperie for lunch and soon spotted our new friends in the street outside. They joined us and during lunch, Bob asked me where my christian name, Lewis, came from. I told him it was my Grandfather's surname and he had been a playwrite who had one of his plays turned into a film. Bob stared for a moment before asking me some wierd questions such as did I have two uncles, Jim and Patrick, and an Aunt Betty. It turned out that Bob had been married to my cousin Anita, with whom I had lost touch with some forty-five years earlier.

Fiat experience!!!!

about three years ago,i was driving on my 120 mile a day round on the Isle of Wight from Wootton to the Hare and Hounds at Arreton.I was following;at a rather slow pace!;a brand newly registered Fiat white van.Knowing the road,i was extremely patient and did not overtake on the straight road ahead.After about a mile we had to stop at a mini roundabout to a vehicle on our right:and low or behold it was a -----WHITE FIAT VAN;THE SAME MODEL;THE SAME YEAR;THE SAME REGISTRATION [BAR ONE DIGIT] I COULD JUST NOT BELIVE IT!!!!!!!!!! i often have"thought transference" with my wife and have on a few occasions sung a favorite song on my round;only to switch on the car radio;to hear the same song!!!! is it me!! or am i an alien !!!

unlikely occurrence

My mother was adopted as baby and her family name was changed from Drury to Goacher. In my early forties I toyed with the idea of changing my surname [S*****] to Drury. I didn't discuss the idea with anyone in the family. As a regular user of the town library I decided to go and look for a book. As usual I checked that I had a spare ticket in my wallet. There was one --showing the name Drury. The library staff sorted out the problem, but I'm still struck by the 'coincidence. Donald S*****

Two scots in the same London shop

Standing flicking through the vinyl at the old Rough Trade shop in Covent Garden, I became aware of a chap next to me who looked very familiar. Because he lived in Glasgow, and I had recently moved from Dundee I figured it couldn't be him, so said nothing. Outside I sent a text - 'Andy, I've just seen your doppleganger in Rough Trade'. The reply? 'That was me'.

Three Musicians with the same birthday, playing the same gig

A few years ago I was in a band called Lipsick! with a girl who shared the same birthday as me (Boxing Day). As if that weren't unusual enough, we played a show once with another band who featured a member born on Boxing Day as well. Out of the 6 musicians on the bill that night, three were born on the same day.

'God' makes a coincidence...

I was debating with my atheist brother about the existence of God in a Kentucky Fried Chicken joint. To support my Theist position I was telling him about all the coincidences I've experienced. At that very moment our Uncle (who we'd not seen for months) walked into the KFC.

Letter for a friend

A few years ago I spent an hour counting birds in the garden for the RSPB's annual Garden Birdwatch. I sent them my findings, as did a few hundred thousand other people (check their website). A few weeks later they sent me a letter of acknowledgement and thanks. The letter arrived at the same time as another identical envelope. I was surprised to see this second envelope was not for me at all but was addressed to someone else, living about 17 miles away at a completely unrelated postal address. But I was shocked to notice that this person was actually someone I know, a friend from work. He was just as shocked as I was, when I was able to hand deliver it to him! This must surely be an unusual coincidence.

Grandfathers Secretary

Approximately 20 years ago, I was working for a small firm of Insurance Brokers in Tooting, South West London. One day I picked up a phone to make an outgoing call expecting to hear a dialing tone but instead I heard a woman's voice. Assuming it was an incoming call, I stated who I was and the caller replied that she had simply picked up her phone to make an outgoing, local call and we must have had a cross-line. Out of curiosity, I asked her where she was calling from, and she repied that she was in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. I told her that I knew Doncaster as my Grandparents used to live in Doncaster as my Grandfather was a sales director of a manufacturing company there, Peglers. She was shocked to hear this as this was the very same company where she was worked. She was even more suprised when I told her his name, as she had been his secretary for many years prior to his retirement several years earlier. What are the chances of that!?!?

Deaths of my maternal grandparents

My grandparents both died on January 26th., four years apart.

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