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!

a Norwegian student in my class had same high school teacher I did

In 1985 I was an exchange student in Norway. In 1997 I started teaching college in Oregon. One year I was taking attendance on the first day of a new class, and there was a Norwegian name. At the end of class, I said something to the student in Norwegian. We started talking. He had come to America to be with his girlfriend. We kept talking, and he was from the same city I stayed in, and went to the same school. We had the same Norwegian literature teacher, Eivind Skaar, who had already been quite old when I had been a student.

my childhood friend lives in childhood home of cousin's friend

I graduated high school 30 years ago in NH and hadn't seen my friend Katie until several years ago when my daughter and I spent Christmas in CA, staying in my cousins' house and visiting Katie and other friends. Katie's husband is a radiologist. We spent some time at their house before going to Disneyland. Two years later, I was flying to Boston and then driving to see family in NH. My California cousins were there, but the teenager's friend had a delayed flight and missed the bus to NH, so they asked if she could drive with me, since they knew I was coming the next day. Of course. On the drive we started talking, and I mentioned I had been in her town a couple years ago, and mentioned my friend's house was near the highway. She asked which one. I said, I think it's the 210, and it was along a wide avenue. I described a few more details, and she said that's where I used to live. I described the house, and she said, I think that's my old house- it was a radiologist who bought it. I handed her my phone and told her to look up Katie M's address. She did, and it was her old house.

Same plane

Twenty years ago I met someone at my cousins' wedding. We flirted, and we saw each other once or twice after that. About 5 years ago he friended me on Facebook, but I hadn't seen him in 15 years and we didn't actually talk on FB. Then last year, he messaged me on Facebook saying he was coming to my city for a few days for a conference and would I like to get together. I said I was flying out that day, but maybe we could see each other at the airport depending on the timing. Turns out he was getting off of the same plane I was boarding.

double coincidence

Years ago, I had just moved to Oregon for my first job. My boyfriend and I were trying to meet people in town and went to a service at a Unitarian church (not something we usually did). We were greeted by Steve and Frosti. After talking a while, they said I had to meet their interim pastor. After talking to him for a while, he opened his wallet and pulled out a paper with my name on it. Someone had told him to look me up. A few months later, I was home in New Hampshire and saw an elderly distant cousin. She said she'd heard I'd moved to Oregon. Where, she asked. Portland. Do you ever go to church? Alex and I went once. To which one? A Unitarian one. The one downtown or Southeast? Southeast. Did you meet Steve and Frosti? Yes, they greeted us. Steve is nephew to her deceased husband.

run in at a rest area

I was driving from Indiana to Wisconsin to visit an Indian reservation where I do research. I had worked with a member of this tribe who lives in Nashville and is a musician, but I hadn't heard from him in a couple years. I was thinking of him as I drove, since I was headed to his community. I made a last minute decision to stop at a rest area, changed my mind about where to park, and there was Bill M. sitting on a bench right in front of my parked car. He had a gig to play in a different part of Wisconsin.

My friend's brother ran for mayor of L.A.

I had a new friendship, about a year or two old, and she and I were driving in the car and I said, "My friend's brother ran for mayor of Los Angeles." She looked surprised. Then she said, "MY friend's brother ran for mayor of Los Angeles too!" we then realized that we had the same friend, whose brother ran for the mayor of Los Angeles several years ago.

We lived on same street, different state, 38 yrs ago

I was invited to stay the night at a friend’s house, a friend I’ve known a couple of years now. She made dinner for us, we had margaritas, took a dip in the hot tub, which made me so sleepy, I had to go straight to bed.<br /> The next morning, her husband made omelets, and we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. We started talking about how she and I had met—that she’d reached out to me on LinkedIn to see if I knew anyone who needed a project manager. I recalled that at the time she reached out, I thought I knew her, so I gladly forwarded her name to my boss, and she got a freelance gig. It wasn’t until much later that I realized I hadn’t known her then at all. I remembered that at the time, I was so certain I knew her, there wasn’t even a question of recommending her. She said she was grateful for the opportunity that lasted over two years.<br /> So, at breakfast, we continued talking about things we had in common: we are nearly the same age, we both sing and have played the guitar, we’re both spiritually minded and independent, both had rough marriages (her first one, both of mine).

Baby shower surprise

I attended a baby shower for a mother who recently moved to Canada from South Africa. The shower was for her 3rd baby, and she needed items since she had left most things back on the other side of the world. I had been very busy with my own two boys, and so had left the present buying to the last minute. The morning before the shower, I had rushed out to the pharmacy to buy diapers and A little something extra to attach to the present. At the store, I found a baby toy shaped like a lion that I could attach to the present - it seemed out of place, had no price, and was the only one on the shelf - but seemed perfect nonetheless. At the shower, I was surprised when the mom started tearing up at my present - it was only diapers! Then she explained - she had left an identical lion back in South Africa. It was the first toy she had bought her first born, and she was sad to have to leave it behind. So she was blown away by the fact that I had unknowingly replace her lost toy!

Cousins collide in Australia

In 2003 I was studying a Master's degree in Australia. At the same time my one and only cousin happened to be backpacking around the same country. Our mothers had been bothering us to get in touch, but we both could not be bothered. Over July break from my studies, I joined a couple of friends and decided to venture North on the backpack circuit. We had a great couple of weeks heading up to Airley beach from Sydney. On our way back home, we made one last stop in Surfer's Paradise. I decided I really wanted to go kayaking, and neither one of my travelling companions was interested. So for the first time all trip, I signed up to go on an adventure alone, while my friends were planning to sit on the beach all day. The next morning I climbed on the bus for the kayak trip. The bus was picking up kayakers from a few hostels. At the next stop, my cousin boarded the bus. She had decided to take the same outing. And to top it off, we were the only two "singles" who had signed up for the trip. We ended up sharing a double kayak that day.

Lost dog

My dog half Shepherd and half husky had left my yard and was wandering in Grant Park in Atlanta. The park was only a few blocks from my house and I didn't realize she was gone till later in the day. I looked everywhere for her but couldn't find her. Several weeks later a friend who lived in Lakewood approximately 7 miles away noticed my dog at a house on the end of his street. His neighbor had picked my dog up in the park and brought her to his house. My friend confronted his neighbor and returned my dog to me. What are the odds of this happening? If my friend never noticed or saw my dog at this house I never would have seen her again. This happened about 42 years ago but it seems like yesterday..lol.

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