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!

Chance meeting

Some years ago my husband and I were driving along one evening in a quiet Hampshire coastal retirement area near our home when we spotted an elderly woman in slippers looking lost and confused in the road. We pulled abruptly to a halt to see if we could help - at the same time as a man driving in the opposite direction did the same. Having established that the old lady was indeed very confused we phoned the police for help. Whilst waiting for them to arrive my husband (originally from Plymouth in Devon) commented on the other man's Devonshire accent . The man explained that he was on holiday in the area but that he lived in Kingsbridge in Devon. My husband remarked that he had spent a good part of his childhood in Kingsbridge living in a flat above an undertakers. It turned out that the man was living in the very same building that my husband had lived in!

Birthday coincidence.

My sister had a baby on my birthday, which happened to be a Friday that year. He was born at about 2:30pm, and we were amazed when Mum told us that I, too, had been born at 2:30 on a Friday afternoon.

neighbours

My Parents and I lived in Australia for over 18 years.During those years several of my Maternal Aunts/Uncles and cousins had also moved to South Australia. When I worked for a Northamptonshire based Company in the 1990's my colleague was planning a trip to visit her Aunt who had emigrated to South Australia in the 1950's too. We chatted about the Aussie life-style and where she would be visiting. I was amazed to learn she was to stay in the same suburb as my Aunt where each road or street on a small housing development built in the 60's uses a female Christian name. Australia is a big country and the chances of that may be slim BUT her Aunts house shared my Aunts back-fence too and the two Ladies had chatted to each other over the fence during those many years of being neighbours .

Birthday coincidence.

My first husband's birthday was the 6th December, and mine is the 3rd January. He made a friend whose birthday turned out to be same as his own, and we were amazed to find that his wife's birthday was the same as mine.

Holiday Coincidence

Family friends from the Auvergne in France were staying with us in Co. Waterford, Ireland. We all went to visit a local attraction, The Mahon Waterfalls, and spent an hour exploring. As we got back into my car Julian, one of our friends, shouted "Bonjour" to some friends from his university class in Clermont Ferrand who had just got out of a mini bus to begin their visit to the falls. Neither knew the other was holidaying in Ireland and just a few seconds later we would have missed seeing these friends from 1100km away

Meaning of life the universe and everthing

Some years ago, shortly after the death of Douglas Adams my wife and I were driving with the car radio on (Radio 4 of course) and there was a programme paying tribute to the late author. A succession of people came on saying nice things about him and then there was a short dramatisation of the bit in The Hitch-hikers Guide the Galaxy where the great computer announces that it has found the answer to Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. There right in front of us was a house with it's street number indicated in large metal numerals - number 42 !!!

My sister & me & the number 12

1)My sister and I were born 12 years apart. (1950/1962). We both married at the age of 20 (12 years apart) and we both married men with the surname Smith. (By another coincidence our father's sister had married a man with the same forename and surname as our father.) My sister and I both had two sons and hers followed 12 years after mine. We both live in houses with the number 12, as did our parents when they were alive. My elder son was also born on my birthday. 2) A few months after I was married in 1971my husband and I were invited to a very 'posh' Ladies' Night. Unable to afford a new evening dress my mother altered my simple empire line wedding dress by removing the sleeves and changing the trim from guipure lace to a gold trim. Feeling like the 'bee's knees' imagine my horror when we were announced and I saw that the lady who was guest of honour was wearing an identical dress! To add insult to injury yet another lady arrived wearing the same dress but with silver trim where mine was gold. 3)The coincidence which has had the greatest effect on my life happened in 1994 in Romania.

cat

I had visited a rehoming centre for cats. Having found a beautiful cat I liked I left my details with the cattery manager. 4-5 weeks later I still hadn't heard from the centre so I called them. As I said my name the woman on the other end of the phone sounded shocked. I wondered how she instantly knew so much about me and the cat. She was sitting with the paper work and was to going to call me after 'answering the phone'! And yes I did get the cat, still have him and I have been told that he will go to the front door when I am approaching home...

Mr John Rowbotham

(1) On a trip to Australia and on a Boat tour around Sydney Harbour.I Found myself standing Next to an ex work collegue from Nottingham whom I hadn't seen for a few years, He now lives on the Isle of Man, incredible. (2)On another trip to Australia I stopped Off in Kuala Lumpur. We took our evening meal in Private restaurant within the Hotel. One night I started a conversation with the people on the next table. They lived in the East Midlands(so did we). We are from Nottingham, I say. We are from Tamworth, they say. Oh I have an Aunt in Tamworth, I say. What name they say and I tell them. Oh we are good friends of hers they say in fact Mr----- (my Uncle) was my driving instructor and we were at an occasion with your Aunt only a few weeks ago. Hows that for a coincidence. (3) Some years ago I checked in at a hospital reception desk. I gave me name(Rowbotham), Oh replied the receptionist that was my maiden name. Next to me stood a lady waiting to check in also who said my name is Rowbotham also (perhaps a different spellings). What a coincidence three people brought together with the same unusual name.

Travel coincidence

About 15 years ago my brother was travelling in Australia. About once a fortnight he would phone my mum to let her know he was ok and then afterwards he would go into an internet cafe to email his 4 sisters. My mum is a dressmaker and had one of her customers in her workroom. They started to talk about their children and mum talked about my brother and the phonecalls. The customer got upset as her daughter was also in Australia but rarely contacted home. Just then the phone rang and it was my brother with his regular call. Mum told him about the customer in her workroom. After the phonecall he went to the internet cafe to contact his sisters and a young girl sat next to him. He said hello and they realised they had the same accents (they had never met before) - it was the customers daughter! He told her that her mum was in his mums house crying and that she should phone her! About 5 years ago, my brother-in-law started to work as a london cabbie. A woman got in his cab and he recognised the accent as being the same as his wifes. He asked her where she was from and she said it was the same town that our family was from. What a coincidence!

Pages