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!

Middle of nowhere

My parents used to run a Public House in Fulham,London in the 70's and as a young boy I used to help out when required like collecting glasses and doing the odd serving . When I turned 20 I decided to head off to Australia and go on a year's working holiday. I managed to work for most of the time but realised I needed to comply with the terms of my visa which meant having to have a holiday as well. So I took a Greyhound bus and started to tour the width and breadth of the country and discovered what a vast land Australia actually is. I was staying in Alice Springs, which is virtually in the centre of the Continent, and ventured out a further 8 hours drive to a place called "Ayers Rock" or what is now referred to as "Uluru". The rock is quite spectacular as it sits in all its "monolithic" glory isolated by vast open space. This really was the middle of nowhere. Once there, I took the slow walk up to the peak of the mountain, which took about an hour, signed the visitors book and proceeded to walk down. There was a safety chain towards the bottom of the rock which most visitors used to hold on to so as not to slip and fall.

Teachers

My brothers and I grew up in an African country and were schooled there. Some many years later I moved with my husband and children to the UK. My son attended secondary school in the UK and one day was asked by his teacher, Mr X whereabouts he had come from, after a few other questions they discovered that Mr X had an uncle who had lived in this African country and had in fact taught my brothers at their secondary school. So my son's uncle had been taught by his teacher's uncle in two different countries (not the same subject though!). I think that this is an amazing co-incidence taking into consideration the time span, some twenty odd years, two continents and the sheer number of schools between these two countries.

Speeding tickets

My son and his girlfriend both left home one morning for work, each taking a different route. Later on that evening they discovered that they were both ticketed for speeding at exactly the same time, hour and minute.

Divorce Warning

lol okay I feel a little embarrassed posting this but it was just the most syncronistic or coincidental thing that ever happend to me that I can recall. I was having martial problems what not, and I had decided to divorce her if my ultimatiums (what not) were not met. So right after her and my conversation where I laid down the warning that we were going to divorce if she didn't heed my request, well I was extremely sad and distraught because she declined to agree so I decided to divorce and I prayed for help in understanding if I did the right thing, I opened up my bible and randomly opened to Ezekiel 33 concerning a story that was exactly symbolic of what I was going thru: Ez 33 ...then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head.

two coincidences I recall

The thing about a coincidence is that you remember it. You often forget what is predictable. I recall two coincidences over many years. (1) As a child I was playing "War" (a game of pure chance in which high card wins) with my brother who was younger. I told him flatly that I would run the deck (winning all 26 pairs). And I did (allowing for continuation by ties). That's on the order of one in 2^25. What is more unusual is that this is the only time I ever recall predicting I would win like this - certainly in a game of pure chance. (2) Once at about age 35 I picked up a phone to call a close friend living a thousand miles away, someone I only call once or twice a year at most. This was not a holiday or special occasion. I picked it up, there was no dial tone, and I was astonished to hear someone say, "David?" on the other end. She had called me, and I picked up the phone before there was even one ring, and the connection was already made. Those are two coincidences I never forgot.

Coincidence of the Travelling Pants

While I was at University in NZ I was a keen tramper (bush walking) and often tramped with my then boyfriend and another friend. One holiday we set off on a 2 week tramp in the remote Fiordland area at the bottom of the South Island, after being dropped off at the track's lakeside start by the daily ferry. I realised after half a day that I had forgotten to bring my new waterproof over-trousers which would be vital in the often unpredictable weather, and which I had purchased specially for the trip. My boyfriend was none to pleased and berated me for my forgetfulness as I led our little trio along the obviously little used path. After half an hour of his displeasure I rounded a corner and there, lying in the very middle of the path was a pair of folded, yellow waterproof trousers! What's more they fit and were lifesavers in the flooded last week of our tramp!

free designer sunglasses

while hiking a remote trail in the escalante national monument in utah my wife look down and found a brand new pair of arnette sunglasses hanging from a bush 3 years later we were hiking a beach on vancouver island in the pacific rim national seashore i look down and caught in the seaweed was another pair of arnette sunglasses awhat makes this coincidence more remarkable is that arnettes don't have a large market share in the us or canada so the likelyhood of finding two pair 3 years apart and 2000miles difference are slim to none and slim just left town

Met On Line

I got my first PC in 1998 and made contact with my now wife.We swopped phone numbers and photos, she in California, me in England and finally met and married in 2000. both 50-ish and with grown up children. My wife's30 year old son's names are Erin Robert.my grandaughter's name is Erin, her brother is Robert. Had Robert been born a girl ,the name would have been Maisy Rose ,Maisyrose was my wife's online sceen name,My wife's birthday is 8th march, same as my dad's and my daughter's.

Family coincidence

I was the youngest boy in a Smith family, and had seven sisters. Long after my marriage I discovered that my mother-in-law's maiden name was Smith and she had seven older brothers.

Holiday coincidence

In the 1960's, while living in Stevenage, Herts, my wife and I went on holiday to Devon. While there, we settled down one day in a secluded part of the beach, and suddenly a couple appeared who turned out to be near neighbours of ours, although we were only on nodding aquaintance and had never discussed our holiday.

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