Cambridge Coincidences Collection

Well I Never!

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

A holiday we shall never forget!

This is an incredible but entirely true story of unbelievable coincidence when my wife, Ann-Marie and I were on holiday in Florida back in 1989. Our fly-drive holiday to Florida had started badly when our hire car was broken into on only our third day there. We travelled on down to Key West on the Florida Keys and booked ourselves into a motel there. Whilst at the motel poolside my wife overheard a couple who sounded as if they came from the north-east of England, just like her.

Birthday coincidence

My maternal grandmother, her daughter (my mother) and myself (her daughter) were all born on the 20th December in 1899, 1925 and 1946 respectively.

birth day coincidence

My first wife and my current partner were both born on the same day - July 4th, 1961.

World Cup Reunion

I was in germany for the 2006 world cup and went to the fan park with some friends in cologne. We sat down amongst several thousand fans and one friend pointed out to me we were just one row and a few yards away from an ex girlfriend of mine with whom I had had no contact for over two years. We are now happily married having tied the knot last summer

Typhoons travel a long way

I was unmarried working in Hong Kong in 1960 at which time I was due to take my vacation leave. For some time I had arranged to travel by the then normal route to the UK, by sea via the Suez’s canal. Approaching the time I was due to leave I paid a routine visit to the travel agent. Whilst there the clerk whom I had come to know asked me if I would consider changing my route home and take another P&0 ship going by way of the Panama canal.

Indirectly Linked Through a Movie

Just over 35 years ago when I was living in Killarney, Co Kerry, I had randomly arranged with a friend one evening to go to the movies. I can’t recall the name of the film but Edward Woodward was in the cast. On meeting up with my friend she introduced me to Michael, a young guy she’d recently become acquainted who was visiting Killarney.

MATCHING NAMES

My eldest son had a Year 5 teacher called Mrs G and a Year 6 teacher called Mrs R. When he went to secondary school, he was placed in 'Beaufort' house. Around that same I time, I started working for a school with a Head teacher called Mr G and a Deputy called Mrs R. Neither were any relation to my son's 2 previous teachers.

Eiffel Tower

My daughter Ruth met a friend from school at the top of the Eiffel Tower, whilst we were on holiday in Aug 2009.

The German, my brother and me.

Whilst I was on company business in Brussels in the 1990s, a German colleague of mine got talking to another German, when I joined the conversation I discovered this man had met my brother the week before in Germany at a trade show.

Inca Trail Meeting

I joined a MenCap fundraising expedition to Peru where we trekked to Machu Picchu. There were over 50 in our group from all over the country and while we were ascending a steep point in the trail, I fell into conversation with the guy behind me who turned out to be a fitness instructor. On the topic of sport and fitness, I mentioned that I had run 100 and 200m sprints for my county 25 yrs previously. He enquired which school I had gone to and it turned out that he had gone to the same secondary school and had been in the year below me. It was in a town with a population of around 30,000.

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