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!

Tiger,Tiger

This evening I was commenting on a Facebook post that ended up mentioning tigers. Prior to this there had been comments in the newspaper about the closure of Ringlings circus,and in looking up a video of tigers on Youtube I happened to remark on the comments about the fate of zoos and circuses and there treatment of animals. I was responding to a Facebook comment which read 'I don't like tigers' posting the video showing them swimming and reposting a comment which alluded to their capabilities among the big cats. I then looked up the poems 'tyger,tyger' and 'the panther' and posted them respectively to Facebook and Youtube. Staying up late these past few evenings I have been forced to search the tv for something interesting. Tonight I happened upon a film I'd never heard of on Horror channel: 'Burning Bright': about a tiger which escapes from a circus! The title coming from the poem I'd just posted online!

Why did not we not meet sooner?

After my first marriage broke up, I tried online dating. I very soon met someone who lived a mile away from me in the same city. When we had our first date it turned out that we had grown up over two decades before, less than ten miles from each other and in a completely different part of the country. She had gone to the girls' grammar school in the town where I went to the boys' grammar school. My future sister law was at the same school as her and her brother went to the same school as me. My most influential teacher at school was a close friend of her parents. I played sport and socialised in the town where she lived. We also had the same religious background but were neither of us part of a religious community. We are now married. It is an interesting twist to the story that we would not have been compatible if we had met before. Someone who believed in destiny would say that we were being kept apart until we were ready for each other. I just call it luck.

Events happening in tandem husband and wife

So, a couple of weeks ago, my husband called me at work to say his car was leaking coolant, and I needed to pick him up from work (he had car towed). Two days later, MY car was leaking coolant also and I had to be towed to the mechanic as well. Both cars in the shop at the same time. His required a major repair, mine was minor and fixed with no charge. Yesterday, my husband lost his car keys in the Wal Mart parking lot or inside the store and could not find them. AAA had to come out and make a new key. This morning, walking into work, I realized I had also lost my important keys off of my keyring - though I still had my keyring, the only car door key I have as well as the good ignition key were missing (I have one that works half the time). Not noticed until the lock/unlock fob fell off of my keyring and went skittering across the parking lot this morning. Which indirectly led me here. It made me wonder if there is not some specific script to life - and having been together now 5 years and very close, are our scripts diverging? I'm just keeping my eye out for what happens to him next so I can prepare! =)

The N Word

Some time ago I had a facebook conversation about offense and the N-word and in what contexts it be deemed offensive. Yesterday I looked back at the copy I had kept of the conversation,and today someone posted a picture of a 'redkneck' with a shirt on with an arrow pointing at his pal which said 'my nigga' and upon his mate's shirt was a reciprocal arrow pointing back saying 'my redkneck' - I was posting asking whether two wrongs don't make a right,or whether the two guys were overcoming their prejudice. At that time I was watching WOLF OF WALLSTREET - Leonardo's mate at that very moment said 'You just called the captain the N-word'.....coincidental enough,but the strand that the posting of the two guys in shirts came from was called 'Freaky Stuff'. Freaky indeed.

new town, old face

I used to live in Margate, kent. I moved to mid wales with my partner at the end of 2016. I left my job of ten years at a well known opticians. Shortly before I left there I dealt with a customer who had moved to Wales (we were currently in the throes of organising our move to wales). She needed her new specs forwarding to her new address. When she gave me the address, it was coincidentally the town in which I had just been for a job interview. In Wales. This was a little coincidental, as its not a large, well known town. I told my partner and forgot all about it. I got the job, on a temporary basis, and work between one and three days a week, between two different practices, in towns five minutes apart. Today, a customer came for a test. I instantly recognised her. Then she spoke, and I recognised her voice. Then I saw her name, and it was the same lady who I had dealt with before I left my old job over 300 miles away! She came to the one of the two stores that I work in, (not in the town she lives where there is also a branch), on the one day out of a possible six that I am working here.

Purple Balloon on Anniversary

My wife and I planned a trip to New Zealand. We had never been there and wanted to experience another “Land down under” that promised enjoyable mountain hiking and other experiences. We booked tickets and proceeded to look at where we thought we could go with just under two weeks in the country. We agreed that it would be better to spend a few days in each place so we booked multiple dates in B&Bs, Hotels and Youth Hostels. COINCIDENTALLY my wife noticed that we would be in Wanaka NZ on the 8th and 9th of December. I didn’t see the coincidence yet and asked her “so what?” She then informed me it was on that date the year prior that a friend’s daughter, I’ll call her Jill, died hiking in that area, and we were spending two nights in Wanaka over that time! Okay, I’d call that a COINCIDENCE. I don’t know how to run the odds on that, but they seemed pretty high. As the date approached, my wife had weekly contact with one of the Jill’s sister-in-laws. My wife mentioned to her that we would be in Wanaka over this time and would be happy to take something to anyone for them in remembrance. We didn’t hear back from her until we were sitting at the airport for our departure.

First baby of 1980 has the first of 2017

I saw this on the BBC and thought you should see it: First baby of 1980 has the first of 2017 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38492663

Naming my animal after a famous person and then then a week later they die

My friend just bought a puppy for his son on Tuesday 12/20/2016. She has an amazingly beautiful white face so his son decided to name her Princess Leia after the Star Wars character since she wears all white. I thought it was so unique he picked that name for the puppy and was it completely out of the ordinary and quite original. On Tuesday December 27 2016, a week later, Carrie Fisher who played the original Princess Leia passed away.

How I found conspiracy Grail in a grocery shop

Once I have a trip with my workmate. We had discussion about many themes, and finaly he share with me very important information (as He thought). He told me about some conspirology video, where former KGB officer explicate some conspiracy theory about masonry, shadow goverments, etc. It didn't interest me much, but my colleague was quite rational, so I didn't ignore his advice and took theese videos from him. There were 60 hours of boring narrative, I watched only 1,5 hour and couldn't endure more. So I postpone theese videous on my office computer. It occupies substantial part of my disc, but it wasn't a problem at the moment. But time was running, disk available spase was shrinking, Firs I deleted all films, then I deleted all music. But every time I thought to delete those giant videos, some feeling didn't let me to do this, I still believed that there was something important, but at the same time, I couldn't make myself to watch it.<br /> Finaly, I feel Lack of disk space even for my work files. Theese videos makes me sick, but I steel suffer this dumb situation. Untill one day I was sent on a learning courses to another city.

Russel Crowe or Russian Crow

Three years ago there was medical examination for employees at my workplace. I was intended to go through examination with my coworkers at certain day, but I had too much work, so I delayed it till it was possible. In last day I went to the doctor. There was huge queue. I found seat and began to wait. There was fire extinguisher on the wall near me and inscription :"Fire safety responsible person Vorona A.V.".<br /> Hour and a half I was looking at this inscription. It makes me think about russian and english surnames. Most of russian surnames have endings like "-ov" or "-in". So you never confuse surname with other words. But little part of surnames looks like usual nouns. And this cause some funny cases and jokes, when surname is being confused whith it meaning. And surname "Vorona" is one of those. Normally it should be "Voronov" or "Voronin" in russian. Whithout ending it means just "crow".<br /> But in english such cases are more common. I was thinking: "All those Sawyers, Bakers, Carpenters - how people differ - is this surname, or craft".

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