Cambridge Coincidences Collection

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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.

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Well I Never!

Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University wants to know about your coincidences!

Daniela Manutius Forster

There have been a series and sequence of coincidences for most of my life. As a matter of fact, these coincidences have been the navigation of my life experiences, from a very early age. Do you want a snippet of these coincidences or a documentation over the last four five decades ? Bit difficult, with just a few lines, as mine are a continual happening. Thank you. Look forward to hear from you!

Forgetting "amnesia"

I am a writer, and one day was working while on a train. I simply could not remember a word I needed to use, although I could knew exactly what the word meant. After struggling for a couple of minutes, I looked down, and there was a scrap of paper on the floor with that very word written on it. The word, ironically, was "amnesia".

Birthday coincidence

My name is Julia. My son, Matthew was born on Monday 11 September 2011 at Winchester Hospital at 21:45 as an emergency caesarean section by Dr England. The next day in the Maternity Ward corridor I spotted a close work colleague I had lost touch with for a few years. I was really shocked and even more so as Chris had given birth to a son on 11 September 2011, Alex, by emergency caesarean in the same operating room by Dr England directly after me. Also, my son, was born 2 weeks early (actual due date 24 September 2011) and Winchester was my chosen hospital. My friend's baby boy was born 6 weeks early and was meant to be born at Southampton General Hospital but as there were not enough room at Southampton she was redirected to Winchester Hospital. We were in different Maternity Wards whilst at the Hospital. We were both, and still are, single parents and are still friends. Matthew and Alex are not friends as they go to different schools.

amazing collisions

From 1960 to 1964 I was based at RAF Changi, Singapore. I played Rugby for the RAF and Joint Services. The best referee in Singapore was Neil Casey. Only snag, often when I broke from behind a scrum, Casey would get in my way and I'd collide with him. I left the RAF in '65 and emigrated to Canada. In 1969 I went with the Overseas Development Ministry team to Enugu, Nigeria during the :"Biafran" civil war. On a trip to Port Harcourt, I went into Levantis supermarket store for shopping. As I turned away from a counter, I collided with another shopper---who could it be ? "Neil Casey -I can't believe you are still obstructing me!" Alan "Willie" Williams

Strange telephone call/Chance meeting...

My partner and I were woken up by the telephone ringing in the early hours of a Monday morning in December 2011, it was 1.32am, I realised as I looked at my alarm clock. My first thoughts were about my parents, had something happened? My partner answered the phone and after a long pause, a man's voice on the line just said 'Sorry wrong number' and hung up. We looked at the call log and the number of the caller was unknown. I found out, in the morning that my mum had awoken at exactly the same time(she had looked at her clock too) as she was suffering a bad reacion to something she had eaten. Her mouth and throat had swollen up and she was struggling to breathe, naturally she was very worried and aggitiated. She was subsequently OK and thankfully, it settled down a few hours later. Also, a few years ago whilst out with some friends in our local city centre, I was approached by a young man in a bar and we started to chat.

This was spooky

We live in greater Manchester. Recently we went to stockholme to join an American cruise ship touring the Baltic. On joining the ship we got in conversation with an English couple who live in Dorset. It turned out that many years ago they lived in the exact same house that we currently occupy! What are the chances of that?

Meeting on a train.

It is midwinter in 1976 - 77, it is snowing so hard that the train has ground to a halt. We are four in the carriage. Me and Bill a pleasant faced blonde woman and a foreign looking man. They smile but little is said. Half an hour later, boredom having set in we are chatting. I tell the man I lived in Greece for a couple of years.<br /> “Where?” he asks.<br /> “Athens.”<br /> “When were you there?’<br /> “62 - 64.”<br /> “I lived there then, where did you live?”<br /> “Kolonaki.”<br /> “Me to. I liked it for the people.” I agree and we talk about the Bohemian mix. He begins to talk about an artist he knew, an American. It’s as if he’s describing a friend of mine.<br /> “That sounds just like a painter I knew - Phillip H .. . .” I say.<br /> “That’s him. Phillip . . .” We are very excited at this and compare information making sure we are talking about the same man. There is no doubt we are.

Holiday coincidence

I was walking along a remote and utterly deserted mile long beach in Tobago when figure appeared in the distance. Beach is crowded today , I joked to my pal. He replied sardonically, Hmm, bet it's a German. Indeed it was a German and as he drew near he said Good morning Mr Scarlatti. Turned out he was the stage manager of a theatre venue in Berlin where I had performed in a show about the famous composer for the harpsichord.. My pal was very impressed.

Weird in Bergen

My Mother, who lived in Formby, Merseyside died approximately 3 years ago but had some very good friends and Neighbours, Sheila and Charlie. They would keep an eye on her and make sure she was OK. After Mum died we were up from our home in Bedfordshire to sort out the sale of the house and had a good friendship with Sheila and Charlie. Once the house was sold we had a farewell meal with Sheila and Charlie and some of the other neighbours. After this we had no reason to visit Formby as regularly as we had in the past but spoke to our friends occassionally on the phone. My Wife, Wendy, Son Tom and myself (Russ) had a cruise around the Norwegian Fjords booked some time after.

The Code of Coincidence

Dear Dr Spiegelhalter - not a 'coincidence' story, but a short story about coincidence that may provide some light relief from your labours! The Code of Coincidence "There are three elements that impose themselves on the affairs of men," said Charlie, putting his beer on the table and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "The first is Chaos. Mother Nature at her most weirdest and wildest with no rhyme or reason for all the irregularities of events. Simply by sticking a pin into a list of riders and runners and hoping that you might pick a winner merely adds to the disorder." This philosophical response resulted from my asking how it was that Charlie was so successful on the horses. We were having one of our occasional drinks in the Pig and Whistle. It was his treat, having pocketed a tidy sum following a bet on the four o'clock at Kempton. Charlie was the most successful punter I knew. He asserted that he was a betting man but never a gambler. "Coordination on the other hand," he continued, "is mankind's attempt to put order and purpose into the proceedings.

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