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!

THE REUNION!

I have a friend who was born and lived in South Africa. When she was a little girl at school, the class teacher left, and the girls had a collection to buy her a book. They all signed the inside page of the book so that she would remember them. My friend grew up and after going to University, came to visit England, meaning to look around and return to South Africa. However, she met the love of her life, married him and remained here. They had two sons, who now have children of their own. One Saturday afternoon, they were going to visit a friend and driving through a small Buckinghamshire village, saw a sign that a book sale was taking place. They didn't have time to stop and look but promised themselves that if it was still open when they came home, they would pop in to see what was there. Well, it was still open so they went in. As she looked through the books which were there for sale - YES! there was the book that she and her class-mates had signed for their teacher when they were young girls. It had somehow come down all those years, and across all those miles to end up in a book sale in a small village which she just happened to visit.

Penguins

Some people find this hard to believe but its a true story. My wife and I are video makers and we specialize in making work with contemporary dancers ( this will be relevant later on). Just before the birth of our first daughter in 2002 my wife picked up a little soft toy kit of a penguin and lovingly sewed it together ready for the happy day. After she finished it I pointed it out that she had sewed the beak on the wrong way round so we named him 'mumble'. About a month after our daughter was born we lost mumble on a walk through our village and despite an extensive search we never saw him again though we often brought him up in conversation as a much loved lost toy. In 2006 I was listening to the radio and became aware of a someone talking about a new film coming out called Happy Feet about a dancing penguin called Mumble. We decided our toy penguin must have made it to Hollywood had a beak job and the early experience of being around dance artists obviously had some impact on his career (but he never came back to visit).

Met school friend walking round a lake 155 miles from our home town

In the Summer holidays some 15 years ago, my Mum took my sister and I to Keswick in the Lake District (we had travelled from Chesterfield in Derbyshire). We had been there some days, enjoying a nice holiday and on the particular day in question, had set off to walk around part of the Lake which we hadn't really explored before. After going along some way, we noticed a family coming towards us who looked familiar - the family of one of my good friends from school! Neither she nor I knew that we would be in the Lake District for our holidays and certainly had no idea that our families would decide to walk around Derwent Water at the same time on the same day.

Shanghai Coincidence

I flew to Atlanta this April to meet with a physician and whilst in the consultation I mentioned my son worked in Shanghai. The physician asked if I would be kind enough to give him my son's phone number so he could call him and get the names of some good restaurants in Shanghai. I said of course and agreed to give him my son's phone number. Two weeks later the physician emails me with this story. The physician and his wife were in the cocktail lounge of a restaurant in Shanghai suggested by my son and speaking with a couple across the table from them who also were from Atlanta. The couple mentioned that a friend of theirs had a son working in Shanghai. The physician mentioned that a new patient of his had a son working in Shanghai whom he had contacted to get the name of this very restaurant where they were dining. Both took out their cell phones to call this young man to ask about more restaurants only to find out that both couples were calling my son. The couple across the table from the physician and his wife were my friends of 25 years.

night at the opera

I live in Huntingdon. My sister lives and works in Cardiff. One night last year I went to the ENO at the Coliseum with a friend. Coming out of a cubicle in the ladies loo at the interval , who should I see at the head of the queue for the next cubicle but my sister and her daughter. I had no idea that she was in London that weekend. I should add that my seat was in the dress circle and my sister's was up in the balcony. So there was a choice of possible loos!

Paris - and Bearded Collies

I heard your "appeal" for coincidences on Radio 4 this morning and thought you'd like these: 1. Some years ago our son and his wife went to Paris for the weekend. To my surprise I discovered that, if necessary, they were going to spend a whole day looking for the building where my husband and I had a flat some 38 years before! I had to search for the address and sent it to them. They had booked their hotel at random over the Internet but, when they got there and opened the map wondering just where to start, they discovered that they were IN THE VERY BUILDING they were searching for! It had become an hotel about 7 years before that! (As a corollary - they then gave us a night in the hotel for Christmas and we found ourselves in our old bedroom!) 2. We registered with the Bearded Collie Association for a "second-hand Beardie" and were vetted by Alison to see whether we would make suitable owners. When we got Oggy I took him round to show her and she asked where we found him. I said we'd been down to Port Isaac in Cornwall (nearly 3 hours from here by car) to collect him.

Scot's cousin paid to crash my 21st party in Leeds

On the 6th December 1977, I was at my 21st birthday party in the Merrion Centre night club, in Leeds. I was a law student at the University and had book the club and only invited my friends. It was strictly ticket only, or so I thought. The night club was on the second floor of the centre and was pretty unobtrusive. Unbeknown to me, my Scots cousins, John and Neil M, were travelling back (to Aberdeen) from selling skate boards in the south of France. They were too tired to drive any further and so checked in to the Griffin Hotel, Leeds. Later on they walked about Leeds trying to find some entertainment. They were eventually directed to the Merrion Centre night club and paid the bouncer on the door £5 to let them in. I was dancing with my girlfriend and was shocked to see too guys who looked like them standing at the bar eyeing up the girls. I told my girlfriend Clare that it was my scots cousins and that I hadn't seen them for years. She said it couldn't be them. So, I went closer to see if it really was them.

Perfect place to run out of petrol

Nearly 20 years ago now I had arranged to meet my then-boyfriend at a golf course after work. I'd never driven there straight from work before, and to get there I needed to take a small country road that I had never travelled along before. I was running late, and my car was very short of petrol. But I knew my journey was not terribly long (perhaps 16 miles or so), and I also knew there was a petrol station not far from the golf course ... so I decided to take the risk and not make myself even later by making a detour to get petrol before I set off. Several miles later, far from anywhere, my engine began to cough, then the whole car began to hop, and then it cut out altogether. No petrol. It was a fairly hilly, windy, lonely, country road and, not knowing whether the nearest help would be behind or in front of me, I decided to just let the car roll on under its own momentum until it came to a natural stop ... down a slight hill, round a bend at the bottom of it ... and there on the left hand side was one of those tiny, independent, family-run petrol stations that you hardly ever see any more! But there's more.

Retail coincidnce

Customer having waited months for delivery of product walks through door as shop assistant calls to inform of delivery..

Three Widows

I was staying in a small hotel near Portsmouth. At breakfast on my first morning I started to chat with another lady on her own. We found that we were both widows and while we were talking about coping with life alone, another lady came in, heard our discussion and joined us. She was also a widow. Our Three husbands all died on 14th. January 2008 !!! When we told the hotel owner she went a bit pale, nearly dropped our breakfasts and said HOW SPOOKY IS THAT !

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