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!

Airport Meeting

In March 2007 I went on my first skiing holiday with my husband and son. We stayed in a catered chalet in Meribel. Amongst the guests was an airline pilot in his late 50's who was holidaying on his own. We chatted over dinner a few times and said goodbye at the end of the week. Two years later, in December 2009, my husband, son and myself were with friends on a skiing holiday in Valmorel in France. We had flown into Chambery and enjoyed a week's holiday on the slopes. On our return journey, we travelled to Chambery and after a two hour wait, were told that due to weather conditions, we would have to be bussed to Lyon and fly from there instead. We arrived in Lyon airport and whilst waiting for our flight to be called, I was chatting with my female friend about my first skiing holiday and the nice Pilot who had graced our dinner table in the chalet in Meribel two years before. At the same time that I mentioned his name, someone tripped over my son's suitcase and when I turned to apologise, it was that same Pilot!! Now that is a coincidence! Another time, I was in London on a day-trip with my step-daughter and her friend.

Sibling Birthdays

I'm the eldest daughter of six children (5 girls, 1 boy). My dob is 1/11/57 (natural birth). One of my sister's dob is 1/11/58 (no2 in family - natural birth) and another sister's dob is 2/11/68 (no5 in family - Caesarian Section).

Wrong bus route

When I was younger I used to walk to school each day there and back. One morning as I turned left off the busy main road down a quieter suburban street I was thinking to myself how quiet this street was. Further, I wondered why the bus didn't take this route as it would make the route a lot shorter. Lost in thought I considered that it must be rather nice for the residents not to have buses thundering up and down their street. No sooner had I thought this, a number 1 bus went racing passed me stopping me in my tracks dumbfounded. The bus driver had obviously taken a wrong turning that day but I have lived in this area for 20 years and never has a bus passed me on this street again.

books

Returning books to the local library, I was mistakenly told that I had another book "The Scorpian" outstanding, I had never heard of this book. A short while later, when visiting my brother, he showed me some books a friend had sent him from America, one of which was "The Scorpian".

unversity offer

My son applied to one Cambridge College, was put in the Winter Pool and next day received an offer from the college which I (his Mum) attended twenty-seven years ago.

Old Friends From London

My wife and I were expats in London for almost five years from 2001 to 2005. We leased a home in Gerrards Cross. It was a small community with several other expat families. We were both in our in our early fifties and our children save one were in universities in the US. Our youngest was attending the local American high school. Our next door neighbors were young expats with 2 young sons. We became close friends, especially my wife as I travelled extensively. He worked for a French bottled water company and was the UK rep. We were neighbors for 3 plus years until he was asked to return to Japan with the company. They had lived there before and did not want to take their family back, so he decided to move back to the US and seek employment there. Her parents had a place in Martha's Vineyard and her father had a family business. We were excited for them but would also miss them and wanted to stay in touch. Needless to say this never happened and life moved on. We moved back to Houston Texas in 2005 as I assumed another position with my company. It entailed a great deal of world travel for both my wife and I.

old friend

In 1971, aged 20, I spent a week at the Glastonbury festival and was dropped off at Bath station to catch a train to London to visit my mother. I lived in Bristol at the time. I tried to buy a magazine but was a few pence short. The shop assistant would not help me so, in the spirit of Glastonbury, I turned to the person behind me in the queue and asked them if they would give me 2 pence. The 'person' turned out to be a girl called Celia who I had been friends with at Primary school in Salisbury and had not seen for about 10 years because she moved away. She was also catching the train to London and bought me a cup of tea and a bun.

Money lost, money found!

I once stayed with friends in the Black Mountains and went out by myself to climb to a hill fort on the opposite hill. It was a hot day and I took my coat off at the top. Unfortunately, I forgot it and when I went back to look for it, my coat had gone. The coat had £25 in and my return rail ticket home. I was a university student at the time so losing £25 meant a lot to me. That same year I spent Christmas witrh parents in Cardiff and one day walking into the city centre I noticed some currency notes blowing around just in front of me. I picked them up and they totalled £25. I took them to Canton police station and handed them in. No one claimed them so they were given back to me. My £25 had come back to me.

travel coincidence

My father, Dr T Barwell, aged 10 days short of 96, reminds me of this story as he heard the Radio 4 item last week. He was on holiday in Russia in 1937 and met a Danish family which included a teenage daughter called Karen-Else Hansen. The following year he was rowing in a regatta in Essen and on the way home he stopped in Cologne to view the cathedral. He met a crocodile of schoolgirls which included Karen-Else Hansen. They were travelling home after holidaying in the Black Forest. So he was travelling from Essen to London and she was travelling from the Black Forest to Denmark and they met in Cologne. End of story. They never had any other contact. Mary Whiteside

Adopted

My husband was adopted at 6 weeks old.about 5 years ago a sister from his blood family contacted him.It turned out his biological mother had died about 25 years ago and her birthday was the same date as mine.

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