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!

The Blind Date.

In the early 1950's I was a teenager living with my parents in Hong Kong, my father was in the R.A.F. working in Kai Tak. Fast forward 30 years I was living in the U.K. a friend asked me to go accompany her on a date, for me a blind date. The evening passed pleasantly and while exchanging life experiences the gentleman I was with mentioned that he had been in the RAF in Hong Kong in the 50's. He had also worked at Kai Tak. After further exchange we discovered that he had been one of my father's lads. The coincidence is that he then reached into his breast pocket and produced a picture of my father which he had taken with him to a reunion a few days previously.

Dates of deaths

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

daughters' ouija board video blacks out

We were watching a video of my daughters years before playing with a Ouija Board. On the tape one of them asked "Is there a spirit here ?" At that exact moment the Television & VCR blacked out. I assumed the whole house or part of the house also had blacked out, but I checked all the electricity and ONLY the television/VCR had lost power.

the poem & the angel (or ghost)

A woman and I planned to go to the Ferris Wheel at Santa Monica pier, so I wrote her a poem in which I said "We would see angels high atop the Ferris Wheel'. The next day on the wheel, directly behind us, all alone in a gondola was a beautiful little blond girl staring straight ahead without emotion. We both said that it seemed very very dangerous for such a little girl to be alone on the wheel. When we got off we both looked at the gondola behind us as it came to the exit to see the girl get off...but NO ONE WAS THERE . We looked all around the ride fearing she had fallen off the ride and then asked the worker about the little girl, and he said he had put no such girl on the ride.

Dead parents house sale

Following the death of my mother-in-law early 2009 her family home was placed on the market. As the months went on the property was a burden, bills to pay, lawns to mow and general security etc. Over 18 months later 9th August 2010 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and given a date for surgery, which would reveal the full extent and whether or not the cancer had spread. On Friday 13th 2010 I had a missed call, on checking the caller's number I was stunned to hear the mechanical voice from 1471 give the number my family had when we were all children and lived at home. My family later moved but took that number with them. Whilst my parents were living at the last address my sister died of breast cancer and both my parents died. I sold the house in 1999. When I made contact the person who had bought the house had called as a result of some mail they were trying to trace my brother. Entering into conversation I mentioned my recent diagnosis and also that we were trying to sell another property in the area. This person put a friend in touch with us who went on to buy the house we were selling.

Car Parks

You can park your car in a supermarket, a field at a craft fair, in holiday car parks etc etc and when you return to your car, the person in the adjacent car also returns?? This happens 9/10 times. Why??

Radio play

Having read several of Mr McCalls books about the no1 ladies detective agency I was delighted to hear a Monday morning announcement on BBC Radio 4 that they would be broadcasting a play based on the books featuring the heroin "Precious Ramotzwe" on the following Friday afternoon. I earned my living as a school photographer and after a busy week having forgotten all about the afternoon play I found myself in a girls senior school taking portraits of the young ladies and as they lined up I saw one young black girl amongst all of her white classmates and when her turn came she sat before me and as was my way I looked around the camera and said "Hello what's your name?" to which she replied...."Precious"! My gob was accordingly smacked, sadly the Precious in front of me knew nothing of her namesake Ma Ramotzwe.

tarot card dream...

I had a dream in which I was doing a Tarot Card reading for my aunt and every single card I pulled was the Death card. Within a month she had died of a brain stem tumor. She had been in apparent perfect health before this except for a soreness in her neck.

name in a dream...

I had a dream in which a name was spoken in a phone call so clearly that I made sure I wrote it down the moment I awoke. The name was 'Eugene Field'. A week later I stayed up later than usual and was switching television channels when I heard the name 'Eugene Field'...it was the History Channel discussing Eugene Field Jr. ; the most infamous forger of Lincoln signatures & documents. And his father Eugene Field Sr. was the poet who wrote the children's rhyme 'Winkin' Blinkin' & Nod'....which is about... SLEEP and dreams.

A life of coincidences

A life of Coincidences. 1964 When expecting my son I was married to a paratrooper who was in Barhein. I asked the CO'S wife if she could get my husband back as I had a dream that I was loosing my life blood. 11th June 1964 I had an emergency ciscerian and 9 pints of blood at Louise Margaret hos: Aldershot. After getting birth certificate as i was adopted I found a family of 6 brothers and 1 sister in 1998. On the cert: the registrars name was J**** my name was J**** at the time. My son had bought ** Gordon Rd Aldershot before I had my cert: it had Florence cottage on a plaque high up by the roof. That was my real mothers second name Daisy Florence. My 1st brothers name was Donald Robert James M*** Donald was the man I was still married to Donald J**** ( now deceased ) Robert is my daughters husbands second name. Christopher Robert. James is my sons second name Keith James. On marrying again I found that my husbands daughters name was Tanya who was married to a Keith which was also my sons name.

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