Cambridge Coincidences Collection

Well I Never!

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

Family birthdays

All four children born on the same day of the week (Tuesday); coincidence 343 to 1 ? which is also the birthday of the father; coincidence 2401 to 1 - I think!

(Dartford meets Darlington) squared, via the Alps

Having moved from Belgium to France, we made friends with a couple who had recently moved from Yorkshire. Over the years we discovered that the husband of this couple had been a pupil at Dartford Grammar School at the same time although not in the same year as my brother. Our friend's wife had been a pupil at Darlington Girls' Grammar School at the same time as my sister-in-law although, again, not in the same year. The two couples have never met through professional, family or social contacts. The coincidence only came to light through conversations with ourselves.

Happily married

Not sure if I have already put this on. So, if not, here it goes. I have two children; a daughter named Joanna, and a son named Andrew. In the fullness of time, they grew up and married. Firstly it was Joanna. She married and Andrew. Then it was the turn of my Andrew. He married a Joanna. Ann.

train coincidence

My sister was getting married and I had to catch a train north. It was many years ago in the days when you could catch any train, anyway I got to the station to find a train was leaving soon so I ran and just got into the nearest carriage. There was only one seat empty so I sat down. There was a gentleman sitting next to me and true to the English way no one spoke a word until we got one station away from my destination then the train stopped for no reason. Gradually conversations started up and I came to realise that the gentleman next to me was American.

Best friends

I was looking through photos with an old friend (L) and she suddenly recognised my brother's wife (S). L had been good friends with S at school in Liverpool while I knew her (L) from Essex University. My brother and I had grown up in London but he met S in Seville and later married her. What are the chances of my brother marrying someone who was good friends at school with the person who became my best friend at university?

happy birthday

I was working alone at a playgroup, digging a hole on an outdoor project. I was 22 and still recovering from depression at the time, after my mother had died of leukemia 5 months ealier. It was my birthday and I was worried about being pregnant because I felt I was in no fit state to bring up a child. I was listening to a portable radio. My mum's favourite musician was Stevie Wonder. I played his songs at her funeral.

1914

Several years ago I was walking my dog along a road where we regularly walked. The road has existed for hundreds of years, leading to fields surrounding the village, and is now covered in Tarmac. There is no footpath, so pedestrians walk in the roadway. As I walked I was listening to an audiobook by John Keegan about the 1914-1918 war. I was about halfway through the fist chapter dealing with the events leading up to the outbreak of war in 1914 when I noticed something sticking out from the road surface. I extracted it from the tar and found that it was an old one penny coin.

Family Reunion

My expat father lost contact with his wife and young daughter after their marriage ended in East Africa in the 1950s. He returned to England and married my mother. As his second family, we emigrated to Perth, Australia, in 1968. My father in those days kept his first family secret, except from my mother. In the mid-1980s, one evening my mother went to her ladies' public speaking club, visiting a sister club in the hills near Perth.

The Plume connection

I grew up in Putney in south London and my teenage sweetheart for 6 of my teen years was David who lived in Chiswick. When I went off to college in 1958 the relationship gradually foundered and David began a relationship with June, a librarian from the local public library. We lost touch but I learned from friends that David and June married in 1961. I met and married Ken and we had 4 children. We moved to Hampshire when we married and have lived here for most of our married life. Our eldest son recently married a lovely girl called Georgina.

Passport mix up

I was travelling by bus in East Africa many years ago and were passing through the chaos of passport control at the border between Kenya and Tanzania. I chatted to an English nurse in the queue to pass the time and when we finally were allowed through we grabbed our passports and got back on the bus. I glanced quickly at my passport and found the photo of a girl; I checked with the nurse and found she had got mine.

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