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!

Deadly neighbours

I recently moved into a new apartment. When putting my name label on the door, I noticed that of my neighbour. I kept thinking I know that name and had an odd feeling about it but couldn’t quite put my finger in it. A few days later I googled it. My maiden name is Lennon. My neighbour’s is M. Chapman. Enough said!!

Lorry codes

I worked in the office of a food warehouse supplying a major supermarket. When each lorry was loaded with goods and ready to depart, the shutters were pulled down and the back of the vehicle closed. For security purposes a 4 digit number was generated randomly, where the back door of the lorry is sealed. This is checked against delivery paperwork for discrepancy when leaving the depot and arriving at the store, in case of tampering with regard to theft etc. In the office the delivery paperwork was produced detailing the trailer number, what is in the vehicle, and the all important randomised seal number. On one occasion two lorries were loaded up, and we noticed as the summary sheets were printed one immediately after the other that hey presto their seal numbers were in fact identical! For example 5468 and 5468. We checked the actual lorries to be certain and they really were the same. I make the chances of that one in a hundred million ....... life is full of coincidences which have meaning to us. [Ed: It is surprising, but the chance is more like 1 in 10000 as you would classify any duplicated number as a similar coincidence. The first lorry can have any number.

The current Mayor of San Francisco is London Breed.

On a map of Livermore, CA the location of San Francisco Premium Outlets is between W. Jack London Blvd. & Arthur H. Breed Fwy. I believe it's foretelling the future. My best guess is a minor EARTHQUAKE is going to occur in San Francisco, CA during London Breed's term of office. Epicenter near 7th Ave. & Lincoln Way on Friday, December 31, 2021 at 3:04:17 PM PST. Magnitude 3.2--Depth 7.1 miles.

Uncanny

I became member of the Soka Gakkai international (Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism) some days around 2016 that same exact day of 'buddhist celebration' the guy I was hanging out with is born. Cherry on top, my mum's born when his sister is, and his mum's born same day of my aunt. Broke up in 2020 and I met him a year apart whilst I was on my way home where he came around to view a room. The other day I phoned my sister who strangely hung up on me because she was in front of him and she made him aware of me calling in the exact same moment they've met. Uncanny patterns, coincidences leave me alone

Deaths in July - Multiples of 7

Several members of my mom’s family died in July in multiples of 7. Different years luckily. July 7 - Patrick Marshall (my grandfather) July 14 - Kay Marshall (my mother) July 21 - Catherine Marshall (my grandmother) July 28 - Theresa Marshall (my aunt)

Dead Great-Great-Grandmothers Connect Descendants

I had been researching my public family tree on ancestry for over 7 years. Days before leaving for my first trip to rural Ireland, I received a message from a person on ancestry saying our great great grandmothers were sisters. She went on to say that she was going to Ireland in a few days. I immediately called her and found out we would both be staying a half mile away from each other in Kerry that weekend. I could actually see her B&B from my B&B. We made plans to meet for dinner that Saturday night in Portmagee. We had both been on ancestry for several years but only happened to match up just before this trip. She had grown up in The Bronx, NY and I had grown up in Queens, NY. We are third cousins. We went back to Kerry twice since then. We are hoping to go again this summer. I’m not religious or superstitious however this feels like two deceased sisters were smiling in heaven when their great-great-grandchildren met each other.

Coincidence

I started talking to a guy on a dating site called OkCupid in December 2020. I immediately felt he was different than any other guy I’d ever talked to online or in real life, and that’s saying something considering in December 2020 I was 28 and had spent the last 12 years dating and never finding one solid long-term relationship. Turns out we went to the same college and were in the same major except he was a grad student and I was an undergrad. I asked this guy if he wanted to meet in person and he said not until the vaccine came out (it wasn’t known when the vaccine would come out to the public at that time). I continued talking to him until early January when I got fed up with him waiting for the vaccine that might be far off for the public for all I knew at that point. In late January 2021 the spring 2021 semester began online and I logged onto my Wednesday class to see none other than this guy as one of the students (it was a class that both grad and undergrad students could take). I thought this was a sign that I should get back in contact with him, so I texted him saying it was cool we happened to have a class together.

How I found this website and other coincidences

I was in a boat, then I saw a camera on the beach. I then looked at the pictures and the last one was a picture of a bridge. Then, we found another camera, and my friend said to me: “My initials are O.I.N.”. So, my friend looked at me and took a picture, but the film went into the sea. Then, we found two dens (caves), and then a sign said that it was a site. Then, I found a box that was the first to be delivered, and then two people looked at us and said “We are looking at this cave first”. Then 5 boxes appeared, and then my friend got the first box. It meant: Cam bridge C O.I.N. sea dens site W E B before (site), which means Cambridge Coincidence Website. When I got home, I went to Google and typed that, and found this website. Then, a box arrived at the door, and it said 548. Today I searched page 548 and found a Pokémon coincidence. Another box arrived at the door, and it said 1917. That was the year my wife’s grandpa was born. Then, box 548 fell down, and it said 1217! On December 17, 1917, my wife’s grandpa was born. Then Anna touched the box and flipped it and it said “Anna”, her name! It was delivered to the wrong place!

It's a Smaller World Than You Think

In 2013 my daughter befriended a young man who lived in her apartment building near a large public university in California. They were both students. They soon began dating and "friended " each other on Facebook. Her new boyfriend grew up twenty minutes from us and has an older half brother who lives elsewhere in the state. One weekend my daughter came home to visit and told me about her boyfriend's family. His mother and I are both teachers. His father is an engineer who once worked for the same company in the same building as my husband. But the coincidences don't stop there. I asked about the half brother and she showed me his Facebook page. On his home page off to the left some of his "friends" were identified. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Front and center among his friends was my 1st cousin's daughter. The cousin lives 3000 miles away and I had never met the daughter but recognized the name. Turns out my cousin's daughter is best friends with the brother's girlfriend. What are the odds in a state the size of California? Crazy.

what are the odds

In 1958 my Dad passed away on Dec 11th , in 2020 my 4 yr younger sister than me passed on Dec 11th , then on 2021 my oldest Daughter passed on no other than Dec 11 th what are the odds of this

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