Cambridge Coincidences Collection

Well I Never!

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

Norwich City/Purple Gang Coincidences

My first coincidence: In June 2004 I was sitting in the departure lounge of Dinard Airport in France, awaiting a flight back to the UK. Next to me were two strangers who struck up a conversation. One was from Norfolk (Swaffham?) while the other was from London. After a while, the Londoner announced that he was a huge Chelsea fan and asked the other if he liked football. “Not really” came the reply. “But I sort of follow Norwich City. In fact, one of the few matches I’ve ever seen was between Norwich and Chelsea, about 30 years ago.

Number plate date

In the summer of 2004, myself and my parents were on holiday in Austria. On 14th August, whilst walking through a village near to where we were staying, we walked past a car with a number plate that read '14AUG 04'!

paul gaffney

My parents both died of lung cancer.They both died at 62,on the same day(11th november). Both died 2 years apart,which made them both 62 years old. Both funerals were on the same date(2 years apart).Its a nice thought they both died on the same dates,but its a coincidence.

Bought at auction!

I was at an auction in London about 10 years ago and one lot was a box of paperwork, postcards, letters, things cut out of a newspapers, just a box of odds and ends. I had no intention of buying the box (and had not even looked in it). Unfortunately for the auctioneer, nobody wanted this lot and he looked at me because I tended to buy 'cheap' things that wouldnt sell.

Birthday coincidence

My birthday. 18th February Brother 1. 18th October Sister. 27th November Brother 2. 27th May Father. 22nd April Daughter. 22nd April

exam coincidence

Sorry, I gave the wrong email address in the version I sent earlier. Studying Italian A level as mature student. Chose Mafia as oral topic (free choice of topic, not on/from syllabus). Obscure important anti-mafia judge called Giovanni Falcone. Found book in Italian on Falcone in Italian specialist bookshop. Struggled to read/understand it. At top of my street, people sometimes dump rubbish by railway line. Saw book dumped, with tile "F a l c o n ", one month before exam.

birthday coincidence

In 2001, i met my now husband on the net. I was recently divorce. I am malaysian and he is american. When we were chatting & trying to get to know each other, we got to birthdays. I jokingly said to him, "i hope its not 17 Sept!" He asked, "why not? What's wrong with 17 Sept?". My reply, "it is my ex husband's birthday". Ended up, both my ex & now husband share the same birthday! People tease me about marrying the wrong person the fiirst time! However, their year is different.

returned book

Whilst fund raising for the local scout group, I separated some books from bags of jumble. I skimmed through them and discovered a book with a sticker inside which indicated that it had been awarded as a prize to my wife by her Secondary School (under her maiden name) She confirmed that it was her book, but she had not seen it for about 25 years and last remembered it when she lived near Royston in Herts. She was living in Kent when I met her, and she did not bring it with her when we married.

Mr

Studying Italian A level as mature student. Chose Mafia as oral topic (not on syllabus) Obscure important anti-mafia judge called Giovanni Falcone. Found book in Italian on Falcone in Italian specialist bookshop. Struggled to read/understand. At top of my street, people sometimes dump rubbish by railway line, say book dumped, "F a l c o n ", one month before exam. assumed about falconry/birds, but on Falcone, in English, tremendous exam help and very improbable unlikely, amazing,very helpful coincidence.

Coincidence,Fate or Master plan

While at Glentress(mountain biking) the events of the day left me scatching my head. So taking into account arrival time setup time and the speed i went round the course on my bike, all this set up a 'chain reaction'. So i planned my route the night before to go around the red route, but as luck would have it, part of that route was closed for maintenance so i followed the diversion, but just to make sure i was going the right way i stopped to check my map, then as i set off again on a big climb my chain broke,damn.

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