Statistics in a Modern World 800
Coincidence Stories

A coincidence is a surprising concurrence of events, perceived as meaningfully related, but with no apparent causal connection. Should we really be surprised by these coincidences? Remember that when so many "unlikely" events are possible, according to the laws of probability, some of them are bound to happen. Like these...

(M.W.)My extra credit coincidence actually occurred in class today. My classmate and friend Kit and I were discussing family. At which point, I discovered that not only did we both have 3 siblings (all brothers), but we were also the same birth order as well. We both have 2 older brothers and 1 little brother. Now that's a coincidence!

(R.Q.)One day my friend and I both wore green jackets, dark blue jeans, and brown shoes. Also, we both have long, dark hair. The only difference between us was our height and skin-tone. This was completely unplanned and has happened on at least two occasions. We consider ourselves to be long-lost twins for more than just this reason (for example: I make the same random noises with my lips as my her sister).

(E.G.)When I was thirteen years old, my family took a trip to Alaska. We rented a cabin in Ketchikan, which is a small port city on the coast of Alaska. The plan was for the trip to be a nature trip with hiking, fishing, boating, and camping. This Cabin was out in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, 3500 miles away from Baltimore (my home town), and when we got there, we found out that the family that was sharing the cabin with us, turned out to be our cousins from New Jersey. We had no idea that they were coming, and we had not seen them in a couple years, but we just happened to plan the same trip at the same time, and we ended up sharing the cabin with them for about a week and a half. So that is my coincidence story

(D.T.)In the summer of 2006 I had just finished my junior year of high school and was vacationing in Italy with my family. About 5 days into our trip, my family and I find ourselves on the streets of Pisa, just outside the leaning tower, taking in the sights. In cities like Pisa, street vendors roam free and constantly approach you attempting to sell their merchandise. As I am walking with my family to go to lunch I feel a tap on my shoulder. Expecting it to be yet another street vendor, I turn around, ready to spout off what little Italian I knew to tell the man I wasn't interested in what he was offering, only to find myself starring down a familiar face. "Don't you go to Hershey High School?" the familiar face asks me. I pause for a second, before realizing that the person asking me this question is, in fact, an acquaintance of mine from my high school, all the way back home in Hershey, PA. Seriously, what are the odds?

(A.S.)Here's my story about coincidence: About 20 years ago, my uncle disappeared and no one knew what happened to him. All my family knew was that he had a daughter whom they met once as a baby and never heard from her mother again. At my little brother's communion this past summer, my other uncle said he had a surprise for us. He brought in a girl who looked really familiar and she turned out to be my long lost cousin from my uncle who disappeared. We all asked where she lived and she said in the Bronx. Excited I asked where in the Bronx, and she lives in Co-op City which is where I live. What made the situation even crazier was that she lived in the building only a couple of blocks away from mine. We had been living in the same neighborhood for years and never knew each other let alone that we were related. As unbelievable as this story sounds every part of it is true and it was really a crazy coincidence.

(C.L.)On my 11th or 12th birthday, we went to the Italian Market (at home in Philly) and we went shopping at Fante's. They had a machine with chocolate covered coffee beans, which were my favorite. I said something about it being my birthday as I was getting some. This man heard me and told me it was his birthday too. My mom and I were really surprised to see another person with my birthday on my birthday. Later when we were checking out, another man said it was his birthday too after it came up again. The store wasn't that crowded and we really thought it was a crazy coincidence to find two people on my birthday with the same birthday in the same store.

(H.L.)My coincidence: I was talking about a friend's situation to someone else, but I wasn't doing a very good job explaining what had happened. I got really exasperated and jokingly said "Wouldn't it be funny if she called right now so she could just tell you herself?" Right after I said that, my phone rang and lo and behold, it was her.

(L.B.)The most probable occurrence of a coincidence that I have came across in my life is the fact that my birthday is on the same day as my parents anniversary. I was born on the same day they got married five years after they wed. It wasn't planned to be that way either.

(D.E.) Two vast summers ago i was spending some time playing golf amateurally in the beautiful country clubs of Boston. After slicing a long drive on the dog leg of the sixth hole I seemed to have lost my ball. So i just took a one stroke penalty and drove again. Naturally, I killed the next drive like a pro. I continued on with my day playing like a pro. I ended the day with a gentleman's -4 (pretty impressive i must say). As i was relaxing in the lounge drinking a couple martinis with a series of very important business officials I was approached by a man in a suit with a dashing mustache. I immediately recognized the gentleman as Alex Treback of Jeopardy fame. Naturally i was not surprised since i spend most of my free time with celebrities. He then presented me with the ball i earlier sliced. I apologized for my mis stroke and he naturally understood. He then looked at me straight in the eye for a solid minute. He took deep breath and told me he was my real father. Turns out it was true (simple dna test). What a coincidence!

(H.O.)"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine." A classic coincidence from a classic movie - Casablanca!

(A.S.)So in high school, my senior year, the district decided to put some televisions in the cafeteria (instead of spending money on things that were necessary). Seniors had study hall in the cafeteria, and every day I walked in, someone had the TV set to MTV. I hated MTV. So every day, I went and changed the channel to something along the lines of ESPN. The TV was positioned on a ledge above a table, and I had to jump up on this ledge every day to change it. I had no problem for most of the year. Around Christmas, I went to change it like every other day but lost my balance. I fell backward and bruised a rib trying to catch myself on the table. The cafeteria was full of people who witnessed my stupid injury. I mentioned that the television was always set to MTV. The coincidental part of this story is that MTV was showing a rerun a show (Jackass) where the main characters injure themselves in stupid ways to entertain others.

(S.F.)My coincidence is that after I lost a bet with my friend, I was forced to dress up as a clown for a day and walk around Oakland. After dressing up as a clown and making a complete fool of myself, I walked through Schenley Plaza, where there was a Childrens Festival going on. At this festival there was an ACTUAL clown, who came up to me and thought I was supposed to be working. After a confusing 5 minute discussion telling the clown that i was in fact NOT a real clown and I simply lost a dare, I fled the plaza, running from the kids who wanted me to juggle and make balloon animals (which i cant do!) It just happened to be my VERY unfortunate luck and a major coincidence that the same day I dressed as a clown, there were a lot of kids in Oakland and a "real" clown working. Needless to say, that was BY FAR one of the most embarrassing moments in my life that is definitely a funny story I cannot wait to tell my kids someday! haha

(L.L.) What a coincidence that my mother called me after class and told me a story about her own personal coincidence. A few years ago she met someone on a website and they both had to attend a funeral, on the same day. Later they learned that they both attended the same funeral that day. How intense and layered, the chances of an unlikely event like so occurring. Not only did they both have to attend a funeral, but it was the same day, and it was the same one.

(C.H.)I was headed at an unusal (off peak) time. My mother's best friend, who I used to see all the time recently switched jobs, so I hadn't seen her in a while. We ended up on the same bus about 5 seats apart. We did not plan to meet and it was not the bus either of us usually take.

(C.W.)I worked at an Italian restaurant called Joe's Mendon House as a busser. One of the waitress's name was Janet. I went on a trip to Europe (France, Spain and Italy) with my high school and we stopped in over 20 major cities throughout our trip. While in Spain, we stayed in Barcelona. While touring the city and looking at the Gothic Church that is to be completed in 2026, I heard my name called out. I turned around and it was Janet. She was visiting Europe with her daughters and we happened to run into each other in a different country.

(J.S.)One coincidence that has always stuck in my mind occured roughly eight years ago. As my family and I were vacationing in Washington State, we were staying at a small hotel in the middle of a small town no one would visit. Randomly I heard my name and turned around. It was one of my classmates from Silver Spring, MD. I said how amazing it was to my parents, but my dad told me that in life there are a lot of chances for coincidences to happen. Still, this was very startling.

(M.P.) I work for the University of Pittsburgh as a Pathfinder, who are the tour guides. We don't necessary have a uniform, the only thing that is required is that everyone wears shirt and a nametag. With that being said as college students everyone that I work with (including myself) has many different Pitt t-shirts. One day I went into work and me and my good friend were both wearing the same exact shirt and we were both wearing khaki shorts. Neither of us had talked with one another that morning and it was very funny that we showed up wearing the same thing. The next day we both came in to work wearing the same thing, and the next day the same thing again! It was such a coincidence that we came to work three days in a row wearing the exact same thing!

(C.M.) My coincidence is that when I moved into my freshman year dorms at Pitt and met my roommate, we both realized that we had a lot of the same clothes. We had different schedules, so sometimes I wouldn't see her before she left for class and vice versa. One day, we both came back from class only to realize that we were wearing the exact same thing, right down to the shoes.

(A.T.)My coincedence story is during your stats class. You asked who had a january birthday and I happen to have a January birthday, along with two other classmates who have the same day as me.

(K.D.) My coincidence story starts when my family moved just north of Pittsburgh in the summer of 1996. Being about about an hour north of Pittsburgh the area wasn't as densely populated. I started trying to find out if their were people near my age (11 at the time) that lived close to me. There weren't a lot. I meet Jared who was in the grade above me. We had quite a lot in common like both being into sports and also playing football. As the summer turned into fall and as November approached Jared mentioned his birthday was close. I was surprised and asked him what day. The crazy coincidence was his birthday was November 15. We had the same birthday but he was exactly one year older than me.

(A.H.) My coincidence story was a simple one about not knowing that we had a quiz in my Italian class on a Wednesday. But when I went into that class on Wednesday, the professor was ill, and the quiz was postponed until the next week.

(H.S.) At my school in North Carolina, there were a total of 120 students in the whole school; this included 1st -12th grade students. During my first day of school there in seventh grade, the middle and high school students [approximately 60 students] had a mass assembly in which we did an activity that involved sharing our birthdays. I found out that three out of the twelve students were all born on the same day. It just so happened that my classmates Cassie, Andrew, Kordell, David, Auriel, Paul, Ellie, and I all have the same birthday, March 12th. Out of those other seven students [not including myself], 4 of them were born in the same year as me as well. So the coincidence is that out of 60 students in my school from 6th-12th grade, 8 of us had the same birthday, and five out of thirty of us were born on the same day and year.

(M.H.) A coincidence, according to our notes, is a surprising concurrence of events, perceived as meaningfully related without apparent causal connection. One time there was a big coincidence in my life. Last summer I went to Israel and met a group of people on a hiking trip in the mountains. Only some of the people in the group spoke English. When we took a water break, I spoke to this one girl who asked me if I went to Pitt (I was wearing a Pitt shirt). I told her I did and she said she lived in Oakland for a while and went to grad school at Pitt. Then she saw my brother was wearing an Indiana shirt and said she used to go to Indiana for her undergraduate years. It was funny because we were out in the middle of nowhere, meeting completely new people, most of whom were foreigners or Israelis, and this one girl was from Oakland too and had gone to my brother's college. It got even weirder when we were waiting in line at the airport a week later to get our plane tickets and someone called our names. We turned around and there she was in line, wearing a Pitt t-shirt.

(E.E.) One day my best friend from high school and I were watching home movies at her house. She wanted to show me a particularly funny video of a dance class she took at the ymca when she was young. I thought it was a coincidence because I, too, took a dance class at the ymca when I was young. When we watched the video, I saw that my friend and I were in the same dance class, sitting right next to each other.

(C.S.) Both my parents are Canadian citizens and most of our relatives live in Canada. Last semester in my French class I met a girl who was dating a boy who played hockey on a junior league team in Canada. Since these teams are pretty well known in Canada I asked her where her boyfriend played. She told me that her boyfriend played for the Pembroke Lumberkings. I was in awe because Pembroke was the small town that my Dad is from and where all my relatives are from. I had been to a Lumberking game before. I told her this and we laughed. If that wasn't enough I then proceeded to ask her where her boyfriend was staying because I am pretty familiar with the area and was curious. She told me that she was pretty sure he was living with a host couple that lived right outside Pembroke in Pettawawa, a bordering town. I also have family who live in Pettawawa. A couple of months later when we were visiting my family in Canada my uncle began to tell us about the hockey players from the Lumberkings that they hosted for a while. I was blown away. I asked him what their names were and they happened to have hosted that girl's boyfriend. It was such a coincidence and I never thought I would meet anyone who even knew where Pembroke was!

(J.C.)heres been coincidences that happen to me that always deal with the number 8. -I was born on July 8th. - Every house I've lived in has started with 8. Currently, I'm at 842 Widener Road. -I was 8 years old when I first learned that I could sing. -Every phone number I've had, there has been an 8 in it. (Both cell phone and home phone) -I was always called 8th in class (4th grade especially) for some reason. -I was 7 lbs 8 oz when I was born. (Its also my birthday 7/8) -2008 was the best year of my life! I turned 18, Barack Obama became president, I graduated from high school, and it was my 1st year at PITT. I've always noticed how much the #8 has been significant in my life. That's why it my lucky number!

(L.M.) Several years ago I was reading the book On the Road by Jack Kerouac . It was near the holidays, cold outside, and I was lying around at home reading when I decided I wanted to listen to some music. As it turned out my sister had taken some of my CDs to the neighbors' house. I went across the street and brought back a stack including the one that I had been looking for. Had there only been one CD over there I probably would have checked the case before I brought it back but since there was a whole stack of them I didn't bother, I wanted to get back to reading. Anyway, when I opened the case of the specific CD I had wanted a different disk was inside. The CD was called On the Road, the artist was Louis Armstrong. I didn't know who Louis Armstrong was and I didn't have the CD I had wanted so I put in the strange disc with the same name as my book and continued reading. I quickly found out that Louis Armstrong was a jazz musician which was pretty exciting because jazz is a huge part of Kerouac's On the Road. A song called "It's Cold Outside" came on, it certainly was too. It was near the end of the CD and I was already feeling that the situation was pretty special when Kerouac began to talk about seeing jazz musicians perform, including Louis Armstrong. When the CD ended I quit reading and called my sister to ask if anyone across the street was missing their disc or if they had seen mine. No one knew what I was talking about, they all listened to classic rock or heavy metal, they didn't even touch my CDs because my sister was the only one over there at all interested in them. We still have no idea where On the Road by Louis Armstrong came from and we never found my CD either. I kept On the Road; I don't miss my CD, it was nothing special.

(J.T.) I don't really have a coincidence for myself but my brother and sister were born at the exact same time. Hope that counts!

(J.P.) A year ago, my best friend and I discovered that we had some little coincidences between our sisters. Her older sister and I share the same birthday, November 29. Also, my older sister and my friend have the same first and last name, Christina Lynn.

(C.O.) My parents were looking to adopt a child in 1988, and they found my biological mother, who was soon to have me. She was due in November. My father had bought my mom, what in retrospect, were gaudy 80s earings and a matching necklace for her birthday. However, as events turned out, my mother had to open her gift in the car on the way to the hospital. I was born. Mathematically, my mother's birthday and mine is an anomaly. She was born 11/11/55, and I was born 11/11/88. Not only are all the numbers doubles (11;55; and 88) but for BOTH of us, the first two doubles--month and day--are identical. It is a double set of doubles, and this uncanny set is identical between both my mother and I. The year date is also a double, and for both of us, is divisible by the day and month doubles, with the same solution for each equation. There is no other set, other than 11/11/xx that is as mathematically interconnected as ours. So although I share no biological traits with my mom, we at least have a very close algebraic relationship.

(E.G.) My coincidence is that Me, my brother who is 4 years older than me and my grandfather were all born on April 3.

(D.K.)Yesterday I went to Kennywood Fright Night where the back of my shoe was stepped on and the glue gave out taking the sole off just so happens that the next line we went too someone had dropped a hair tie which i then used to tie my shoe together for the rest of the night.

(S.T.) I have an amazing, multi layered coincidence story! And it just happened to me, not one hour ago! So here it goes. I had just learned about the coincidence assignment, and I was having a difficult time digging any coincidences out of my memory. I knew I had experience a coincidence before, but anecdotal examples are not very easy to come by when you are put under the gun. As a way to massage a coincidence free from my sub-conscious, I met up with my father for lunch. He and I got to talking, and neither of us could really think of any coincidences. It was entirely flummoxing. Just when I thought that I would give up on the whole idea, an amazing thing happened to me. My father and I were in his car, stopped at a red light, and we saw my good friend and roommate Anil walking on the sidewalk a few blocks ahead of us. Dad and I began to riff a little on what Anil was doing. Suddenly, we saw Anil take out his cell phone and begin to dial. We both verbally wondered whom he might be calling. "I wonder who that guy could be calling?" both us of wondered aloud. Then my cell phone rang! Believe it or not, Anil was calling me! That is certainly a coincidence. However that coincidence is nothing compared to the remarkable coincidence that Dad and I had been trying to remember a coincidental occasion just as a coincidence occurred! It was two coincidences in one instant, and that does not happen very often.

(A.D.) Recently, I had been meaning to call my friend to talk to her about something important but it kept forgetting to call her. That weekend I went to the mall and coincidentally saw her there and was able to tell her what I needed to.

(J.S.) When I was a freshmen I met a boy who was a junior from CMU and he told me he was from the West Coast. After we were talking for a while I found out that he was from Oregon, which is where like half of my family is from. When we traveled to go visit my family from Oregon that summer I randomly texted him to ask him where in Oregon he was from exactly because I was in Salem Oregon visiting family. He told me he was actually from Portland, Oregon which is only about 45 mins from where I was. That night he asked me out to dinner and drove 45 mins to pick me up. Given that we met in Pittsburgh it would seem to be a coincidence that we would both end up in Oregon that summer but it is actually just that if you look at the pobability- there is a small chance that something like this could happen, but it did!

(B.D.) One day at the beginning of last semester there was no class scheduled for English. Instead of attending class, students were informed that they should schedule to meet with the instructor. I was standing outside my English class to meet with the professor and there was also another girl standing there. We both realized that we were in the same class but had never spoke to each other. We began talking to each other. I thought she seemed pretty nice and asked her where she was from. I could not believe it when she responded Erie, PA! I am from Erie, PA. As we continued talking we realized that not only were we both from Erie, PA but we are both from a small area called Harborcreek! I asked her where she lives in Harborcreek and she responded that I probably never heard of the subdivision that she lives in. She told me she lived in Walten Woods! I immediately started laughing because not only did I know where Walten Woods is but I live on the road connected to Walten Woods. We were practically neighbors but had nevery met because she went to a private school and I attended a public school! Talk about coincidences!

(D.G.) My coincidence was when the Steelers and Penguins both won their respective championships in the same season. The chance that the Steelers would win is 1/32, and the chance that the Penguins would win is 1/30. This means that the chance for them BOTH to happen is 1/960 if every team has the same chance to win each year.

(L.O.) I lived in Singapore for four years during elementary school, then moved around a lot, most recently to Houston, TX, and I just transferred to Pitt in August from Franciscan University. So what are the chances that I go to a Nutcracker Ballet rehearsal and meet a girl who went to the same school as I did in Singapore, recently moved to Houston, and whose best friend went to Pitt for a year and then transferred to Franciscan University? VERY slim...but it happened! I'm pretty sure we're the only two people at the whole university who have that many things in common, so it was definitely a coincidence that out of all 25,000-some students here, we would meet each other!

(C.C.) A surprising coincidence that happened to me: when I was in Italy this summer, I met another American student who lived on the same street as me growing up and we didn't even know each other.

(M.M.) My friend Angela went home for the weekend to go to her sister's wedding. She lives in Buffalo, NY, so flying was a necessity. She was scheduled to leave at 9:40 AM Friday October 29th. Meanwhile, our other friend Jeff booked a flight to go home to see his grandfather this weekend because, unfortunately, his grandfather is very sick. Angela asked Jeff what he was going to be for halloween this weekend because she didn't know that his grandpa was sick. He told her that he was flying home. Jeff lives in New York as well, so she asked him when his flight was. He told her 9:40 AM Friday October 29th. So, coincidentally, they are both flying home on the same flight without knowing it. Jeff booked his flight only a couple days before while Angela had her flight booked for over a month. It was pure coincidence they got the same flight back. I know this didn't happen exactly to me personally, but they're two of my closest friends so I thought it would be okay. Thank you!

(S.M.) Me and my boyfriend had been with each other for about 3 years. One day, just being friendly I decided to confirm a girl that requested me as a friend on Facebook. After that my boyfriend said there's people stalking me but there wasn't anything wrong going on so I just shrugged him off. Many months later a message from a girl I never heard of saying my boyfriend was messing around with her friend and she thinks I need to get rid of him. So I check and see who this girls mutual friends were to see how she knew me.I come to find out that the girl I added a long time ago was the one stalking me and just wanted me and my boyfriend to break up. She wanted him but I confronted her and that was the end of it. It was a coincidence that a girl I added just wanted to get in my business.

(L.H.) In my life, I have had many coincidences, that now because of stat, might not be a coincidence as much as I had thought. When I was finished with my freshman year, I got a job at a local photography business. When I was being trained by my manager, he asked me where I went to school, I answered that I went to the University of Pittsburgh and he said he went to the same place. I told him I lived in Tower A and when he found that out he asked me if I knew a specific girl, and in fact, this girl he knew was my roommate. He had been in my room one evening with a friend, while I was at work. He even left a post-it on my dresser saying it was sad he didn't get to meet me. So imagine that almost 6 months later, I meet him completely on the opposite side of the state. Not only that, but he was best friends with someone I had gone on a date with at the beginning of the semester. Talk about coincidence and a small world.


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