Cambridge Coincidences Collection

Well I Never!

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

Edinburgh AirBnB

Recently, I visited Edinburgh staying in an Air BnB. As you do, I looked in the visitors book and noticed that “Liz and Tom” from Market Bosworth had stayed there a couple of years before. I know a Liz and Tom from Market Bosworth and wondered, could it really be them? Market Bosworth is a small town but there might be a different Liz and Tom. When I returned home I contacted them and we established that we had, indeed, both stayed in the same flat.

Kermit’s Nephew

When we chat at home my husband sometimes sits on a middle stair, it’s always the same stair so I usually sing this song to him; “halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit” which is a song sung by Kermit the frog’s nephew from the 80’s I think. Sitting down after dinner a few hours later I was reading an online news article on face masks and an advert on the same page had a photo of Kermit the frog and his nephew.

Deaths in my family

1) My son (older child)was born March 26, 1989 2) My mother’s sister died on March 26, 1989 (the day my son was born) 3) My mom died on March 26, 2020 (same day her sister died and my son’s birthday).

Walking coincidence

I was having a really rough time. I was just starting college and already second guessing my major of music as I got into the lowest choir, whereas my boyfriend had gotten into the highest. My dad hadn’t helped much with making some comments, and it had all gotten to me. I picked myself up and went on a walk. I was just walking in my neighborhood by myself. I was talking out loud and complaining that I just felt so incredibly lost. I didn’t know if I had made a mistake, and if I was just going to be miserable as a music major.

Three family members dying on same day, different years

Over the course of about 10 years, 3 family members have died on April 26 but in different years. April 26, 2010, my grandfather Thomas Martinez died from blood loss after a tumor removal surgery in CA. April 26, 2010 my cousin Jonathan Martinez died of Lukemia in CA. April 26, 2020 my great-uncle died of COVID-19 in Mexico. We are wondering who else will die on April 26.

North Carolina Natives

I am a native of North Carolina, USA. After my completing my graduate degree, I worked with a congregation in Greenville, South Carolina for fifteen years. During those years, I had the opportunity to take a group of teenagers to a conference in Germany. On that trip, we visited Dachau. Walking up to the entrance, our group meshed with other people walking in the same direction. I found myself walking beside a family and struck up a conversation with the father, who was closest in proximity.

Siblings Meeting with Siblings

A new person was attending a meeting in my town in North Carolina. We had 5 minutes to talk. She had moved from Georgia where my brother lives. I told her my brother lived in Augusta. Her sister lived in Augusta too. I clarified that he actually lived in a suburb, Evans. So did her sister. We inquired about church membership and found they were members of the same church. When I got home, I called my brother. He had been at a meeting with one sister in Augusta during the same time I was meeting with the other sister in North Carolina.

Ancestors

I was engaged in genealogical research to support an application to Sons of the American Revolution. The material I gathered traced our line back to the mid-1500s in central England, with our first ancestor to the colonies arriving around 1625. His name was Thomas, and he was listed as one of the "Founders of Hartford, Connecticut." He fought in the Pequot War, and lived "on the road to the cow pasture, now Main Street in Hartford." I met with Kevin, a current SAR member here in Indiana, for him to review the application and advise if anything was missing.

From Bargemon to Mill Hill to Eze

I am a painter and author. In 2002 I had an exhibition in Eze on the French Riviera, I had editorial promoting the expo published in an English magazine called New Riviera. The editor suggested I contact someone who was on the same page as me, the gallery owner, Guy Beddington. He lived far from where we were, based in the beautiful village of Bargemon. Unfortunately my work was not suited to his gallery, but as I was leaving he wrote a name on a card. She was a good client of his. I do not want to mention the name, but she lived in a villa in Eze village.

Similarity in our sons' lives

Two years ago I was in the hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, having knee replacement surgery. The other patient in the room was about my age and having shoulder surgery, We both were sociable people and ended up talking a good deal, telling the head nurse that our stay was turning out to be fun. And as mothers will do, we talked about our children.

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