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!

Death and birthdays

My husband and daughter (we live in the suburbs bordering Kent and London), were going to France for a couple of days. Whilst waiting in the queue of cars waiting to drive onto the ferry at portsmouth, my husband was looking into the car next to him in disbelief. His cousin (who lives in Lancashire), was in the car alonsgside my husband with his wife and 2 children. They ended up getting the ferry together and having fun in France until my husbands cousin, continued his journey to Belgium.

Surnames

In November 2011 my wife and I were in Hawaii on the last leg of our round the world trip. We booked a bus tour of the Island of Ohahu. On board were 10 other couples. The guide said he would read out the passenger names and we each had to say where we were from and add a few details to get to know one another. He read out a few names and then said "Stevenson" Two voices simultaneously said " Yorkshire, England," mine and another man. That's a coincidence I thought. So when we stopped at the first scheduled stop we approached each other. Neither of us had met before. He was from North Yorkshire, I was from South Yorkshire. He asked where I was from and I said Sheffield.We were both born in 1945 and were 66 years old. He informed me that his daughter who had just finished her Ph.D. had got a job in Sheffield. It turned out that she was going to work for a company who had their premises next door to our son in laws printing company on an industrial estate in Chapletown. Not only that but she had managed to find a flat in Wombwell less than half a mile from where my sister lives.

corsican coincidence

My husband and I (we live in UK) were on our first four week holiday in Malta and asked the rep to organise several trips - he booked us on a catamaran trip to Corsica. On arrival in Corsica we were told to board any one of three coaches for those speaking English.<br /> My husband noticed a man wearing a baseball cap with a derogatory name on it. Tongue in cheek (as we know the American jokes about this name) he asked if that was where the wearer came from. No he said I come from a small place an hour outside of New York - oh said my husband, we were an hour outside of New York a couple of months ago. The American said he was from Carmel, New York - we said if we said the name Douchkoff would it mean anything? He said he would be in court with Kevin (my husband's cousin) on Monday. He was an attorney and the cousin a detective in NYPD. There are very few Douchkoffs in USA.<br /> The meeting was even more coincidental because he was supposed to do the trip a few days before but high winds had prevented the sailing - we almost missed the trip because our previously arranged transport did not come and we only got to the catamaran minutes before it sailed.

Dental Records

I am a 56 year old dentist who sold my practice in 2009, all my patients continue to see me at the practice where I work as an associate about a mile away from the old practice. The old practice is an unoccupied unit on the first floor of a busy shopping centre. After all the equipment was moved out there was an electrical problem with the fuse blowing at the local sub-station. This happened several times and each time I had to attend the premises until the engineer had repaired the fuse, none of the attending engineers could explain why the fuse kept blowing. One day in December 2009 I went along to the premises as the power had gone off again and I was waiting for the enineer to return with my dental nurse, it was bitterly cold and a lady walked along and asked me if this was the dental surgery. I replied in the affirmative and told her that I had moved and gave her details of my new location. She told me her husband was coming home (he is a seaman) and had tootache and wanted to see me urgently. I said I would see him the day he got back. The power was restored and my nurse and myself went nto the premises.

Chance encounter.

I am a 66-year-old Geordie, living in Canada. Last year, on a one-week visit back to Newcastle, I was shopping in Fenwick’s and fancied a coffee. Fenwick’s café was very busy so I went to the café in Marks and Spencer’s instead. There I bumped into a school friend who now lives in Wokingham and who was also visiting Newcastle for a few days. She’d been about to go straight back to her hotel but made a spur of the moment decision to have a coffee before she went. Hence our meeting. We couldn’t believe it. I thought she was in Berkshire and she thought I was in Canada.

We'll meet again

My brother Horace Dale (RAF) of 83, Heathcote Road, Miles Green Stoke on Trent was walking down a sreet in Naples in 1943, when he met Jack Cross (Navy) who lived at 106 Hearthcote Road. While they were chatting along came Frank Pointon (Army) - the three different services! - who lived next door at 106. A photograph was taken and it is a treasured memory of the amazing coincidence - the three houses are less than 25 yards from each other! I have the photograph if you wish to see it. Dennis Dale.

Returning to the Town of my Ancestors

I first moved to Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire in 1969 where I raised my family. I was working at the Flixborough chemical plant which exploded in June 1974. In 1982 because the re-built Nypro factory where I worked closed down, and due of lack of local work, I moved to London where I took a job in engineering design of large chemical and nuclear facilities. When I semi-retired in 2000, I moved back to Lincolnshire to Grantham to give me easy rail access to London where I still worked part time as a Consultant in major hazard prevention. When I finally retired in 2002, I started to write the first of two books which were later published. I also took an interest in Family History, exploring where my ancestors came from. My cousin told me that our great grandmother on my Father's side came from LIncolnshire which I did not know. Research revealed that her family owned a Grocer's shop in Grantham and that they had all lived in the Spitalgate area of Grantham. What an amazing coincidence that I returned to live in Grantham, the home town of my ancestors.

Happiness and Sadness

My paternal grandmother died on the 21st April 1960 which happened to be my fifth birthay. On the 25th November 1983 my father died which also happened to be my brother and sister-in-laws fifth wedding anniversary. Both occasions were times of great happiness but ended with sadness. Still we never forget these important dates, nor do we celebrate "5"s.

Manx Cat

I was on a camp site in Mojacar Spain back in April 2009 playing my concertina outside in the sunshine accompanied by a German friend .The tune we were playing was "The crack was ninety in the Isle Of Man" Whilest playing i felt something warm brushing my leg and to my amazement a pure bred Manx Cat (the one with no tail )brushed along my leg,which caused shivers up my spine .The German was not aware of the breed of cat and when i explained the coincidence he was also amazed.

Russian Roulette ?

At school in England in the fifties a swear word never crossed our lips- we were well brought up young ladies. However, one day in class I made an error and expleted "Oh Vladivostok ! " . This became an expression of frustration for evermore amongst my classmates. I had no knowledge of Vladivostok at all and I picked this out of a whole world of possible names. I could not have possibly have forseen that one day a beautiful little girl would be born there and that she would become my daughter -in law. Gloria Gillott

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