Chance meeting

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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.

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My brother and I live in Cambridge (UK) and our family name is very unusual. A few years ago, my nephew's best friend was in California and had booked into a hostel for the night. He discovered that one of the girls (who was Irish) staying in the hostel had the same unusual name as us. 'That's amazing!,' he said. 'My friend's name is the same is yours - I've never heard it anywhere else.' After asking him for a few more details she replied: 'It really is amazing - he's my second cousin!'
Total votes: 207
Date submitted:Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:39:46 +0000Coincidence ID:5944