He Sees Himself On 40 Year Old Video Coincidence

A short coincidence story today which I saw in the Bournemouth Echo.

Andy Ashley had quite a surprise when, on a visit to Bournemouth, he paid a visit to the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum. They were showing a 1969 video illustrating how Bournemouth had changed as a tourist destination over the years. He then noticed a small boy playing with a toy boat on screen and must have thought, 'He looks familiar.'

He then realised that he was the small boy! That's Andy in the forefront of the photo (a screen shot from the video) stepping out of the stream. He remembers playing with the small yacht all those years ago.

Andy told the Bournemouth Echo, "It is quite an amazing coincidence that over 40 years later I should happen to see the video and recognise myself on it."

A spokesperson from the Russell-Cotes Gallery added, "It was an amazing coincidence. What are the odds? There were quite a few videos we could have chosen but we chose that one. It must have made their visit."

Andy Ashley, who lives in Nottingham, just happened to be in the right town at the right moment to get a special glimpse of his past.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Posts:
Squashed Coca-Cola Can Brought Them Together
Married Couple In Same Photo As Children
The Death Of A Loved One Can Bring Coincidences

A Coming Together Of Time Place And Circumstance

A short coincidence story today received by email.

Bumping into a friend miles from home

"Hiya Mike.

I've enjoyed reading about your coincidences and thought I'd share one of my own with you.

It happened at the end of a family holiday in Portugal. We had been staying out in the countryside but were to return home from Faro (the capital city). Upon arriving at the airport it turned out that our flight was delayed to such an extent that we were to be put up in a hotel in the city.

When we got to the hotel we were told that a buffet had been laid out for the delayed passengers on the roof floor, which was also where the hotel pool was situated.

As we got to the roof and rounded the corner to the pool area my mother quite literally 'bumped into' a woman who turned out to be her work colleague. She was staying in that very hotel. It has always struck me as an amazing coming together of time, place and circumstance."

~ Name withheld

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Posts:
Pilot Meets German Who Saved His Life In WW2
The Flower Of Many Names Coincidence
Coincidence Of A Fly Who Made An Impression

Speeding Car Chase Coincidence

I can't guarantee that today's coincidence story is 100% true as I have heard similar versions in the past. But, my thanks to the sender who wishes to remain anonymous. Obviously I don't condone some of the things within the story but there again - most of us were young once upon a time!

"When I was a teenager, rather than go to parties and get drunk, we would drive around and cause trouble. We spent a fair amount of time practicing speed runs through a local park with winding roads and we would antagonize drivers to get them to chase us into the park so we could lose them as we sped around the curves in the dark.

One night about an hour or so after we'd been doing that sort of thing we noticed a car had been following us for a few miles. We darted through a residential neighborhood and seemed to have lost him, but as soon as we slowed down he appeared from around the corner and the chase recommenced. We drove out into the country (only a mile out of town since it was Kansas) and into a subdivision that was under construction in hopes that he would lose interest in the chase, but sure enough he stayed behind us the whole way.

By that time it had been going on for a good 10 minutes, which was quite a while for that sort of situation, and resigned to confront him rather than escape, we pulled into a driveway searched the car for anything we could find to defend ourselves.

We sat in the driveway with a crowbar, tire iron, and aluminum baseball bat in our hands while nothing whatsoever happened. It was just one guy and he just sat there and watched us. A few minutes, that felt like hours, passed and we decided if he wasn't going to approach us we were just going to leave like we had wanted to do from the start.

So we pulled out of the driveway, slowly drove around him on the fairly narrow street, and then watched to see if he would recommence the pursuit. He pulled into the driveway, hit the brakes, and when his reverse lights came on for just an instant and we were sure he was getting ready to make a Y turn and continue the chase.

Instead, he put it in park, turned off the car, rushed up to the house, quickly unlocked the door, and went inside. The house was one of the only finished houses in the new subdivision and he lived there."

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
Pilot Meets German Who Saved His Life In WW2
Golf Hole In One Coincidences
The Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle Cornwall

The Shocking Letter Coincidence

A coincidence example today via JC - thanks.

One of my best friends moved to Denmark. He then sent me a letter written in Danish, knowing that I wouldn't understand the language. But I had an answer to this. Little did he know there was a girl in one of my classes who had emigrated from Denmark.

I had never spoken to her previously. I took the letter to her and asked her if she could translate something from Danish for me.

She said, "Sure," so I handed her the envelope.

She looked at it and freaked out, "How can this be? What is going on?"

I said, "What do you mean?"

She said, "How did you know? Is this some kind of joke?"

I had no idea what she was talking about.

Finally she said, "The return address on this letter is my old house!"

Turns out my friend had moved to her old address, just a complete coincidence.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Examples:
Coincidence Of Double Exposure On Newspapers Front Page
Comic Cover Coincidence
Date On Her Boyfriends Baby Photo Was Her Birthday

She Dreamed Of Her Grandma's Death Coincidence

It depends on how you view coincidences as to whether you consider the following story from Breanna is in fact a coincidence. Or is it perhaps more of a precognition or even a message from someone who had died?

She dreamed of her grandma's death

"I had a dream the night before my grandmother passed away. I hadn't seen her in about a year as she lived in another state and I hadn't talked to her in about a week. I found out later this was because she was in a coma.

In the dream I had been in my room when the phone rang, I answered it and I heard my grandma. the conversation went like this.

"Hey Grandma"
"Hello Bree"
"How are you doing? I miss you a lot"
"I haven't been feeling too well, I miss you too"
"Well at least I'm coming out next month then I can see you and mom and the rest of the family"
"They will be so happy to see you. I wont be there though I am leaving this week. I love you. I have to go now"
"I love you too. Maybe you'll be back from your trip by the time I get out there."

That is where the conversation ended and I hung up the phone. The next morning my dad came in my room and told me my grandmother had passed away earlier in the morning. This happened in December of 2005. I was 11 at the time."

~ Breanna.

Other Coincidence or Synchronicity Stories:
A Coincidence Or A Haunting?
Visualisation Technique Brings A New Carpet
The Duplicated Plane Crash Coincidence

Missing Presumed Killed Coincidence

This is a coincidence story which revolves around Richard William Edwards (Bill) and his next door neighbour William Eric Killey. Two men who, like many others, took part in active service during World War II.

The story is in the words of Bill's son Philip Edwards. Here is what he writes:

"I was always fascinated to hear my dad's wartime exploits. At the time, we lived in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales.

Nearly every Sunday as a child, in that limbo time after Children's Hour and Sunday Night at the London Palladium being on television, in my imagination I'd march with my dad through the desert of North Africa: me, dad and Monty.

Some nights, he'd bring out his leather wallet full of treasures from North Africa, and we'd sit down and mull through them together.

Sadly, he died in 1998. The leather wallet was passed on to me.

I used the material from the wallet to create some learning materials for my school children (I teach 10 year olds). Deep down in the wallet I found a newspaper clipping which told the story of my dad's next door neighbour, William Eric Killey, and how he was lost at sea. I added the clipping to the material because it showed that war isn't a Boy's Own Adventure, but something that is sad and serious.

Last Summer, my wife and I took a trip to the Scilly Isles. What a wonderful holiday destination. Why would anybody want to go to Spain?

Anyway, on the last day of the holiday, we walked over to Old Town and looked around the graveyard to find Harold Wilson's grave (ex UK Prime Minister). It took some finding, but eventually we found his resting place.

Then, on the way out, something really strange happened. I tripped and stumbled. My hand reached out to a gravestone to steady myself. Then I noticed the name on the grave: William Eric Killey. HMS Warwick.

Strange coincidence? Or did he want to be found?

This story is also published on WW2 Peoples' War which is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
The Giant WW2 Soldier Coincidence
67 Years After The D-Day Landings They Meet By Coincidence
Coincidences United Two People In Need

9 11 Numbers Seen On New York Visit

A coincidence story today from Karen about seeing the numbers 9 and 11 on a trip to New York.

I'm not sure how much of a coincidence or synchronicity this is, or if it's even either, but this is my story.

I'm from England and during September 2006 my friend and I visited New York City. After a good night's sleep on our first night in the city, my friend woke up suddenly. She doesn't know what startled her but the time on her clock was 9:11. She wanted to wake me but didn't, and just told me about it later instead.

On the following day we were walking in the evening and a man asked us what the time was. It was 9:11 which felt quite creepy.

On the last day of our break, we went to lower Manhattan and whilst down there next to the Courthouse, I got a call from my partner in the UK. He said he would be at work when I arrived home the following morning and that he would give our house keys to my father.

It costs me money, while in the US, not only to make but also to receive calls (89p to receive and £1.49 to make a call). As my talk-time ran out during my partner's call, I 'topped-up' my phone.

With a zero balance in my phone I put a further £10 on it and then made a call to my boyfriend.

It appeared to be calling him when all of a sudden I got this really loud grinding sort of noise that made me pull the phone back from my ear.

I looked at the screen and the call appeared to end, and my balance came up on screen, you've guessed it: 9.11.

Now sorry to state the obvious but I made the call so it should have deducted 1.49 so the balance should have been 8.51. Is this all just a coincidence?

I spoke to someone who reckons she knows about numbers and she said if I add 9+1+1 it equals 11 and then if I add the 1+1 I get 2. Therefore the number 2 is my Life Path and that's why I'm aware of seeing the 9 and 11s.

She went on to say, amongst other things, that this meant I had a spiritual quality and I was one of the peacemakers in society.

I'm undecided as to whether the numbers are meaningful or if I'm simply imagining stuff.

- Karen

Other Coincidence Stories:
She Found Her Son Exposed On Her Daughters Photo
Tommy Cooper Pie Crust Coincidence
The Powerful Synchronicity Of Two Matching Hearts

April 15th Coincidences

Here's a 67 Not Out reader's coincidence story. He wishes to remain anonymous. It's all about the date April 15th.

I feel compelled to share with you a remarkable set of coincidences concerning a date. For some reason, as a child I was always fascinated by the Titanic disaster of April 15th 1912.

Despite myself being Welsh my father's family hail from Nottingham and thus I have been a life long Nottingham Forest soccer fan. They were, of course, Liverpool's Semi Final opponents on the day of the Hillsborough Disaster which occurred on April 15th 1989.

It gets even weirder from here.

My mother died on April 8th 1997. The funeral was set for a week later April 15th which also happened to be the 30th birthday of my partner at the time.

Coincidentally (again) on the way to the crematorium there was a banner with 'Happy 30th Birthday' written on it hung over a sign on a roundabout.

Two years later in 1999 I moved to a new flat and was given the moving in date April 15th. On arriving at the flat the electric failed and I had to stay with friends.

I believe it was T.S.Eliot who wrote 'April is the cruelest month' (from Eliot's Waste Land poem). Needless to say I tend to stay in on April 15th nowadays.

Other Coincidence & Synchronicity Stories:
He Gets Great Aunt's Titanic Boarding Card By Coincidence
The Gibraltar Wedding Photos Coincidence
A Clutch Of Coincidences In Truro

Pilot Meets German Who Saved His Life In WW2

A coincidence story today about an old soldier and how he was able to contact the person who rescued him over 50 years ago during World War 2.

It was supposed to be 23 year old pilot Jack Dack's 33rd and final mission before heading back to Melbourne in Australia. As he flew over Holland on October 23rd 1944 his Lancaster bomber was shot down by enemy fire.

Before the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) pilot knew what was happening he found himself virtually unconscious in the ice cold River Sheldt at Flushing and was slowly drowning. His crew had been killed.

A German anti-aircraft marine spotted Jack through his binoculars and did a remarkable thing. Against the orders of his officers he set out in an inflatable dinghy to try and rescue him. It was brave to do as, besides ignoring his officers wishes, there was a gale blowing, the river had a fast current and he had to travel through minefields.

The Gods were on his side and he managed to rescue the injured Aussie airman, though Jack Dack remembers very little of this. He was taken prisoner but his life had been saved.

The RAAF pilot always wondered who had saved him from certain death.

Winding forward over 50 years, Jack had a friend in Holland and he had been reading a local newsletter. In this there was a story about a German who, during the World War II, had managed to rescue what he thought was a British airman from the river at Flushing.

Jack's Dutch friend sent him the article, which was about a soldier called Hans Bannick of Kiel.

As good fortune often goes in coincidence stories Jack's son, Stuart, happened to be working in Germany at the time of the article being received. He managed to find an address and phone number for a Hans Bannick in Kiel.

A very nervous Jack made a phone call to Germany and sure enough it was Hans who had rescued him all of those years ago. Jack has written: "He answered the phone himself and he spoke English and he was my rescuer. We had a long and happy talk. Since then we have exchanged before and after photos and stories."

Since the phone call the two old soldiers have met face to face and Jack said of this "The first thing I said to him, in German, was thank you, thank you, thank you for 57 years of my life."

As for the Hans Bannick he remembers how an officer told him that it was senseless to go and risk his life for an enemy as he was a terrorist airman who had participated in allied air raids on the Heimat (Homeland) and who perhaps had tried to murder his relations in Germany.

Bannick, however, ignored this and ventured out into the river without a helmet or weapons and carried out the rescue.

Though this is essentially a coincidence story we can all probably read much more into it.

For those interested in such things Jack Dack's Pilots Record can be seen here.

Further Coincidence Stories:
World War 2 Egg Custard Coincidence
Coincidences Which Solved The Mystery Of The WW2 Giant
Afghanistan War Coincidence With The 1800s

Coincidences Which Unite Business Partners

A coincidence story today from Lauren. It shows how life sometimes just falls into place and how coincidences can guide the way and confirm that it is the right path. At least that's my interpretation

"I saw your blog on Stumbleupon and have been a keen reader ever since. I wonder what you think of my coincidence story as I think it's pretty amazing.

I had an idea for a business but felt that it would be too much for me to handle on my own. I couldn't think of anyone who would be interested in joining me in my venture. There was actually one person who would, my best childhood friend, but she was now living in Australia, whereas I'm in England. A bit too far to commute!

About a week passed, after thinking about this business idea, and by chance I was introduced to someone who would make a perfect business partner, but this isn't the coincidence part of this story.

The coincidence is that this girl I met has exactly the same name as my friend in Australia and they are both the same age with the same birthdate of 23rd of March, 1977. I've also found out that she has a B.A (Hons) degree in economics, as has my friend in Aussie.

The good news is that our business is now up and running and Gloria has said how she had been thinking along similar lines for ages.

Like you, I believe in coincidences as something meaningful."


~ Lauren

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
She Found Her Son Exposed On Her Daughters Photo
Synchronicity Of A Beatles Song Sealed Their Romance
Classic Anne Parrish Coincidence Story

Readers Coincidence Stories

Three short coincidences stories follow, originally received from 67 Not Out readers. If you have a coincidence story you would like published on this blog or 67 Not Out please use the Contact Button on 67 Not Out - thanks.

American Pickers TV Coincidence
"I was reading one of your posts from a long time back, which said when once you start getting interested in coincidences, you see them everywhere.

Not even half an hour later, I walked downstairs to find my mom watching a TV show called American Pickers, the episode titled 'Easy Riders'. They had bought a motorcycle from a random guy, and brought it to a shop to be fixed up.

The mechanic, while fixing the bike found a old picture from the shop, which showed the exact same motorcycle had been fixed there years ago.

Its amazing that this old bike ended up in the same shop by coincidence, even though it had passed through many hands over the years.

This also made me think about how many coincidences probably happen, but no one notices them. The guy on the show just happened to find the old picture of the bike. He could have easily not found it, and no one would ever know the coincidence occurred - just thought you might find that interesting."

- Merideth

The Henry Rawlinson Coincidence
"I recently went to see a performance of Sir Henry at Rawlinson End in Liverpool - taken from an album made in the 1970's by Vivian Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Sadly Viv died in a house fire on 5th March, 1995 - exactly 100 years to the day that the real Sir Henry Rawlinson died (5th March 1895). Quite a coincidence."

- Colin Taylor

The Old Man And Archway Coincidence
"I was a wandering down an (admittedly very picturesque) narrow curved street in Siena.

In the distance there was an old man walking with a cane, and he'd just passed under an arch with a stone missing. I thought it made a nice mood photo, no landmark, nothing special.

Years later a friend was showing me photos from her recent European vacation, and though hers is closer and mine from a greater distance, she'd photographed the same man, in similar clothes, on the same street, under the exact same archway.

Maybe this guy wandered that same street for decades, but still ... the two photos side by side are pretty amazing.

- Alice

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Examples:
Coincidence Of Double Exposure On Newspapers Front Page
60 Years Of Romance Coincidence
The Buddha Coincidence Connection Story

A Coincidence Or A Haunting?

A story today in a reader's own words. He is wondering if the events happened by coincidence or was this a haunting. Another solution perhaps is that this could have been poltergeist action.

A Coincidence or A Haunting?

"My wife's grandmother passed away at 2:30am that morning, on that same day at 12:30 pm, two of my children heard a crashing sound, only for the mirror clock to have fallen off the wall breaking a ceramic rabbit. Then to their amazement, a miniature rocking horse was swiped off of the stereo speaker in front of their eyes.

Scared, they tried to contact my wife who was at work. At the same time another daughter was on the computer. They entered the room only to see a miniature birdhouse, located on a shelf on the wall, swiped off nearly striking the daughter at the computer.

Very frightened she gets off the computer and goes calls my wife. They then all get out of the house and go to the neighbors, until my wife comes home to witness the damage created.

I came home from work and witnessed it for myself. My kids are old enough, they don't mess with their mothers favorite things.

Is it possible the grandmother's spirit was trying to tell the children something,was there a pattern with the favorite things, or is this all just a coincidence?"

~ Name withheld

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Posts:
She Found Her Son Exposed On Her Daughters Photo
The World Champion Yo-Yo Coincidence
Date On Her Boyfriends Baby Photo Was Her Birthday

Comic Cover Coincidence

Today's coincidence story is from Alvaro. If you have a coincidence or synchronicity story you would like published on this blog or 67 Not Out please use the contact button on 67 Not Out - thanks.

A Comic Coincidence
"I am a comic fan. Sometimes in comics there are special seasons when the artists draw beautiful covers worth of hanging in a wall.

In one of those seasons, I had to buy some comics twice because I wanted to keep a copy, and rip the cover of the other copy to hang it on my wall.

This was not a problem, but one day I ran out of money. I had to buy one last comic, which was a special one, and it wasn’t cheap. I bought one copy, because I couldn’t afford to buy two copies.

While walking home, I was happy to have all the comics I wanted, but I was a bit sorry because I didn’t have money to buy another copy of that special comic so that I could frame and hang it in my room.

And now comes the strange coincidence:

The comic I bought had two covers. It was a mistake by the printers. It put two covers in that exact copy of the special comic, which ended in my hands, one of the few people that specifically needed two covers.

- Alvaro

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
The Impossible Happens On The Chinese Lottery
Five New Brooms Arrived By Coincidence
Helen Finds Boyfriend's Buried Money By Coincidence

Coincidence Of Double Exposure On Newspapers Front Page

I find this story a really bizarre coincidence, so much so it's almost too good to be true! But it all checks out as far as I can see.

The Lewiston Tribunal (Idaho) published an edition of it's newspaper just prior to Christmas time. On it's front page there were two photos. One of a man painting a sign on a shop window and the other was of a man caught on a security camera and being suspected of 'removing' a wallet containing $600 from a local convenience store.

The two photos were not linked in any way by the newspaper, other than being on their front page. The report by the second photo told of how Jami Johnson had left her wallet containing the money and her credit cards at the store by accident. The cash was to be used to pay for her Christmas.

It didn't strike the newspaper reporters or editor that the men in the two photos looked very similar, they were even wearing the same clothes - you could say they were pretty much identical.

The two photos were, of course, of the same man: Michael Millhouse.

Paul Emerson, the Tribune managing editor is quoted as saying, "We are not crime-stoppers here. It is just a weird coincidence. If it did solve a crime, I’m glad it happened. I have seen nothing like this in my 26 years as Tribune managing editor."

Fortunately readers of the Lewiston Tribunal were a little more switched on and phoned the police and the newspaper office. Millhouse was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree theft, and appeared in Asotin County Superior Court.

So justice was done by a remarkable, bizarre coincidence. For any doubters the front page of the Lewiston Tribune, showing the photos, can be viewed here in pdf format.

Further Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories
The Powerful Synchronicity Of Two Matching Hearts
The Wrong Tom And Jerry Coincidence
Date On Her Boyfriends Baby Photo Was Her Birthday

She Found Her Son Exposed On Her Daughters Photo

A classic photo coincidence story from the past.

Photography was a whole different art back in the early 1900s. In some cases pictures were taken on individual photographic plates and these were developed by specialist shops and stores.

In 1914, just prior to the first world war, a German mother took a photo she had taken of her young son, to a shop in Strasbourg, to be developed. Before she could collect the photo war broke out and for some reason she was unable to return to Strasbourg.

Moving forward two years to 1916, the same woman had another child and purchased a photographic plate to take a picture of her newest arrival. She was now in Frankfurt and after taking the photo presented the plate to be developed.

When she went to collect her picture she was annoyed at first as this showed a double exposure i.e. one picture on top of another. She couldn't work out how this could have possibly happened. She was definite that she had only taken only one photo.

Then she looked more closely at the photo and was stunned to see that the new picture of her daughter was in fact superimposed on that of her son - the photo she took two years previously.

By some bizarre coincidence the film plate had somehow been transferred from Strasbourg to Frankfurt and was marked in error as being unused. This was subsequently sold to the woman so she could take a photo of her daughter.

The photo of her son - which she thought she had lost forever - was found, but perhaps not in exactly the format she would have preferred.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories
Coincidence Of The Riddle Of Epicurus
Married Couple In Same Photo As Children
He Gets Great Aunt's Titanic Boarding Card By Coincidence

Coincidences Of A Relationship

"New Jerusalem" sacred geometry structure

Here are an impressive set of coincidences or synchronicity that go to make up a relationship. Bryne Hart has neatly set out the coincidences between himself and his wife:

I’ve been married to a wonderful woman for nearly 28 years. During our dating and marriage we’ve discovered the following:

(a) Both mothers were nurses

(b) Both fathers served in a branch of the US Navy (though not the same)

(c) Both fathers retired at equivalent ranks

(d) Both had grandparents in the funeral business in NY

(e) Both parents and grandparents grew up in NY (father’s poor, mother’s middle class). We met in Virginia.

(f) Both are the 4th born children:
Wife: Girl, Boy, Girl, Girl, Girl
Me: Boy, Girl, Boy, Boy, Boy, Girl

Here are the clinchers:

1. Both sets of parents were married on the same day (that is day, month and year)

2. We were both baptized in local parish churches called "Star of the Sea Church" (me in Boston, MA, her in Yokosuka, Japan) in 1960.

- Bryne Hart

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Examples:
Attracting Birds Coincidence
How To Find Lucky Serendipity And Coincidences
The Buddha Coincidence Connection Story

The Powerful Synchronicity Of Two Matching Hearts

Today's story is a powerful one. It's all about the coincidence or synchronicity of a couple who had just one healthy heart between them.

Suzanne and Alistair Cotton, from Coventry in England, first met at Kingsbury swimming pool but little did they realise what a lot they had in common. And most of this didn't come to light until after they had fallen in love.

They were quite shocked when they first met to learn that they had both suffered from the same rare heart defect. They were diagnosed, when children, as having stenosis. This is a narrowing of the heart valve which requires difficult corrective surgery.

The interesting thing is that their defects were on opposite sides of their heart, so between them they had one good heart. They saw this as being a sign of their destiny to meet.

After Suzanne and Alistair moved in together Suzanne had to go for a routine heart check up and it was then that they learned of an another amazing coincidence.

As children, seven year old Suzanne and fourteen year old Alistair were being prepared for surgery at the Birmingham Children's Hospital. This was in 1974 - and they were in the next beds to each other ready to have the same operation, on the same day and by the same surgeon. Who would have thought they would meet some 20 years later, fall in love and finally marry.

Suzanne said of the coincidence, "We were totally blown away by the coincidence. We always felt like we had a close bond and, because our defects were on opposite sides of the heart, it means our two halves would fit together perfectly. We were obviously destined to be together. When I found out Alistair had the same condition as I did, I knew he'd be able to understand what I'd been through - but I didn't realise just how well he'd understand."

The couple married in 1992 and Suzanne conceived a baby the following year. Regarding this she said, "Many heart patients can't conceive or carry children, and other children are born with dreadful heart problems themselves, so for our amazing story to have such a happy ending is just wonderful. We can't even begin to show how grateful we are to the hospital that has given us so much joy and so much to live for, against the odds."

A powerful coincidence story: The couple met 20 years after both having the same operations on the same day and by the same surgeon and their love is sealed with a healthy daughter, now six years old. Yes, that's definitely powerful.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
Squashed Coca-Cola Can Brought Them Together
Coincidence Of A Fly Who Made An Impression
The Middle Of The Bible Coincidence

Photo by Leon Brocard (originally posted to Flickr as IXS_2631)

The Impossible Happens On The Chinese Lottery

Here's a bizarre lottery coincidence story from China. It was reported in the Chinese newspaper, translated as, Modern Evening Times (MET).


The story is about two winners of the Chinese lottery in April 2009. They each won 5 million yuan, one lived in Henan and the other Heilongjiang. These two towns are thousands of kilometers from each other.

Okay, not too strange so far but they both picked out the same number of 3511587 - which, I guess, they would have had to do if there were two winners.

But now here is the bizarre coincidence bit: The two gentlemen concerned picked these identical numbers at exactly the same time - right down to the second! They were both purchased on 2009/04/26 at precisely 10:17:12 - and their tickets, as above, prove this.

For this lottery there were over 10 million numbers picked by players and at peak times over 100 transactions took place every second.

The reporter in the MET, Zhang Feifei, also added as a bonus coincidence, "Interestingly, the two big winners also had the same height, weight, and blood type."

An assistant professor of mathematics at Heilongjiang University in China has had his calculator on overdrive to work out the odds of this happening - the lottery bit that is, not their height and such.

This is what the prof, He Chunyang, worked out, "Suppose you pick a two-digit number using the digits 1 to 9. That makes 81 combinations. If you have two seven-digit numbers with an identical sequence, the probability is 1/282429536481 (one in 81x81x81x81x81x81), or roughly one in 282 billion. And when you factor in the two players thousands of kilometers apart who bought tickets at precisely the same second, the probability approaches zero."

Not sure I understood all of that but he seems to be saying that it's virtually impossible for two players to pick the same numbers at exactly the same time - but they did, and this is what happens in the world of coincidences and synchronicity: the virtually impossible actually happens.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
60 Years Of Romance Coincidence
The Same Clouds Caught On Camera Coincidence
Titanic Coincidences

The House Of Karen And Karen Coincidence

Quite a while back I published a Squidoo lens, 10 Strange Coincidence Examples. The following coincidence example was in response to this.

From Kajohu:

My biggest coincidence is from about twenty years ago. My name is Karen and I live in Michigan (USA), and I met another Karen who lived about a block away from us.

We got to talking, and over a few weeks time we realized that we had both lived in the same house while growing up in Minnesota (about 600 miles away).

Her family lived there before our family did.

Not sure that it really meant anything, but it was very interesting!

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
Coincidence And Synchronicity Story
Titanic Coincidence In The News
She Was Topless In Front Of Her Postman

The Flower Of Many Names Coincidence

Margarita or Daisy or Deisy Flower

Colourful coincidences today from 67 Not Out reader Deisy.

If you have a coincidence story to tell please email it to me (contact details on 67 Not Out blog) and I will publish the best and will include a link as well to your site if you wish. Thanks, Mike.

Hi Mike!

I just found your blog and thought I'd share a funny story with you.

I was born in a small ranch in Mexico and was to be named Ana but My godmother decided Deisy suited better and my mom agreed.

Eventually we moved to the US and at age 7 I found out Deisy was English for Margarita which happens to be my mom's name.

In High school I met and eventually married Jesse. In Spanish his name is Jesus, which is my dad's name.

Here you have Margarita and Jesus and now Deisy and Jesse.

As if that's not enough I should also add that my parents marriage was not the best and neither was ours, Jesse and I separated and now my parents are too.

Just thought I'd share it with you as I had not met anyone before who payed as much attention to small things as I have.

Congrats on a great blog.
Deisy

More Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
Attracting Birds Coincidence
The Buddha Coincidence Connection Story
The Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle Cornwall

Kristine's Coincidence Story Continues

Today's coincidence story from Kristine follows on from yesterday's post The Gibraltar Wedding Photos Coincidence.

"Eventually I left my job also. I did so because I bought a small cafe at the beach.

Mary and I made plans to have breakfast one morning so I could show her my new place. She called me a few days before we were to meet and asked if she could get a rain-check. She had recently been promoted and her new boss had invited her to breakfast the same day. She felt that it was important for her on a professional level that she accept the invitation.

I agreed with her, and told her we would make it another day. On the day of our cancelled meeting, I looked up from the counter at the cafe, and was surprised to see Mary standing in front of me with a huge smile on her face. As I walked around to greet her and ask her what was up, I noticed she wasn't alone.

After I gave her a big hug, she introduced me to her new boss, who looked familiar. Mary went on to explain that her boss had wanted to take her to visit a very special little restaurant that she went to every weekend without fail. The food was great, the ambiance was perfect, and so on.

Right when I was starting to wonder why they instead came to my cafe, it dawned on me why her boss looked so familiar. She sat at the same table every weekend with her boyfriend and their dog, on the patio of my cafe.

Coincidence? Synchronicity? It gets better!

As it turned out, Mary and the boss were not the only ones in their party that day. The boss' boyfriend (and the dog) would be arriving as soon as he was done surfing.

A few minutes later, I see Mary waving at me, so I head over to her table. She tells me that the boyfriend ran into an old buddy while surfing, and they need another chair because he is going to have breakfast too.

No problem! Chair provided. I got a little busy, but I kept my eye on them and saw that all had arrived, and were seated. My staff was taking good care of them.

I finally got free, and headed over to Mary's table to see that they had enjoyed themselves.

When I arrived at the table, my jaw basically fell from my mouth onto it. The boss was happily introducing me to her boyfriend and going on about the coincidence of Mary's friend owning her favorite breakfast spot.

It took a minute for Mary, the boss, and the boyfriend to notice that the surfing buddy and I were both shell shocked.

Why, you ask? It is almost too absurd to be believable. The surfing buddy lived four houses away from me, and we had been neighbors for almost 10 years.

We knew each other well enough that over the years we had occasionally gone out for coffee, and walked our dogs together.

Coincidence? Synchronicity? Or just plain weird?

All I know is that it all happened. I am not sure that the coincidences were 'meant to be' since they didn't all result in a big change for those involved. I am sure that they took all of us off-guard, and have given us a fantastic story to retell."

Thank you Kristine for sending me your coincidences - Mike.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
Squashed Coca-Cola Can Brought Them Together
The Death Of A Loved One Can Bring Coincidences
Time Travel Coincidence Stories

The Gibraltar Wedding Photos Coincidence

I received three coincidences by email from Kristine who lives in Southern California. As the first coincidece is quite long I'll publish the other two tomorrow - they follow on from this one. Here's the first part of Kristine's story:

"While working at a department store in California, I hired a very nice lady (we'll call her Mary) from Brazil. She worked for me as a salesperson for several years, and we became good friends during this time. Since she didn't have any family nearby, she spent holidays with me and my family.

My family is a small one, consisting of myself, my mother, and my only brother who lives in Morocco with his wife and kids. Though not present for every holiday, my brother and his family visited the US often enough that Mary got to know them fairly well.

Time passed, and Mary was given the opportunity to work at a better paying job with considerably more potential for advancement. While we were sad to no longer be working together, we remained friends, and talked frequently.

About a month into her new job, which was at a law firm, Mary called me for some advice. She was very upset because she wasn't fitting in very well. No one had made any moves to befriend her, and because she still had some troubles with language, she was shy about striking up conversations herself.

My advice to Mary was to do a lot of listening. I told her to listen to what the others were talking about publicly in the lounge, and on breaks. I suggested that when she heard a conversation on a topic she was familiar with, she should try and become part of the conversation, and see if the group would welcome her.

Less than a week later, I receive a very excited call from Mary, and this is what she told me:

She was in the lounge, eating lunch, and listening to her co-workers talk. She had been trying to find an opportunity to join a conversation, and had worked up the courage and determination to do so that day.

As chance would have it, she heard 'Morocco', and thought that since she had learned something of Morocco from my brother and sister-in-law, this was her opportunity.

She listened a little more, and discovered that the speaker was sharing stories of her recent wedding in Gibraltar, and subsequent honeymoon in Morocco. When the wedding pictures came out, Mary got up with a few others, and joined the group looking at them.

Mary found her opening and was right in the middle of explaining how her previous boss, who she became friends with has a brother that lives in Morocco, and suddenly she said, "This is actually him, right here in this photo!"

To everyones' astonishment, the best man and the maid of honor at the wedding in Gibraltar were none other than my brother and sister-in-law. The flower girl was my niece, and the bride and groom had been friends with my brother for over 15 years.

Not only was Mary welcomed into the conversation, her entire status changed. The bride had worked at the law firm for 10 years, and was a cornerstone of the companies social hierarchy. By association, the bride considered Mary part of her family, and from then on, treated her as such. The two of them became instant friends, and Mary never again felt like she didn't fit in."

Part 2: Kristine's Coincidence Story Continues

More Coincidences and Synchronicity Stories:
Abraham Lincoln And John F Kennedy Coincidences
The Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle Cornwall
The Thailand Coincidence Story

The Wrong Tom And Jerry Coincidence

Simple coincidence examples today from Amber, a reader of my 67 Not Out blog. It illustrates how once we become aware of coincidences and synchronicity we tend to notice them more and more.

"I 'Stumbled' on your site using Stumbleupon and looked around for about an hour, and I really started noticing more. I had three coincidences.

First I had just got done reading about your wife finding coins and I had my two year old sitting in my lap and she got down between my legs and was playing and then handed me a penny.

Secondly I was thinking about a friend named Brad and just glanced at a magnet on the fridge that said something about Braddock that I've never noticed before.

And thirdly my two year old wanted to watch Tom and Jerry, the cat and mouse cartoon, but I had in a DVD of very old cartoons like Popeye and Betty Boop. The first cartoon on it was actually called Tom and Jerry but it was animated guys and not the cat and mouse - but still weird."

~ Amber

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Examples:
Classic Anne Parrish Coincidence Story
Date On Her Boyfriends Baby Photo Was Her Birthday
The Billions To One Coincidence Of Being Here Now

Coincidence Of The Riddle Of Epicurus

A coincidence story I received by email from Colin Taylor and shows how coincidences can pop up on the Internet, and Facebook in particular. Here's Colin's story:

I live in Penkridge near Stafford in England and I am on Facebook. My son jokingly suggested I find other Colin Taylor's to be friends with. So I searched the name and invited a few to reply.

One day I was joining a website for some reason and I was asked my favourite quote. I wrote the Riddle of Epicurus in full and submitted my details.

Two minutes later I get an email from Facebook saying a Colin Taylor had accepted my friend request.

I went on his page for the first time ever as it was not possible for either of us to do so up until that very moment, straight away I could see his status was the Riddle of Epicurus.

I contacted him to tell him and got him to check on the site I had just joined. He confirmed I had written the Riddle five minutes earlier. In addition to this we both had, including each other, 100 Facebook friends.

A bit of a coincidence I feel.

One last thing, the most recent Colin Taylor to pal up with me on Facebook, just happens to be a carpenter (like me), a biker (like me) and unusually has a son named Mathew with one "T" (like me), spooky!

Many thanks Colin.

The Riddle Of Epicurus:
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

There are several variations of the riddle.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
The Coincidence Of Numbers
Attracting Birds Coincidence
She Was Topless In Front Of Her Postman

The Same Clouds Caught On Camera Coincidence

In August 1990 Francis Brooks was attending a Musikfest held in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and while there she saw an extraordinary cloud formation. Though far from being a photographer she had time to snap a photo before the clouds changed. In fact this is the only time she has ever taken a picture of clouds.

When Francis got back to her home in Winterville, Georgia she liked the cloud photo so much she had it enlarged and framed. This she decided would look just right for her bathroom, where it remains today.

Nothing so unusual in this you might think but an unusual coincidence was to follow.

The years passed by and Francis was holding a dinner for some of her local church members. She got talking to JoAnn Snow, a web site designer, who moved to Winterville from Pennsylvania in 2003.

They made small talk, as you do, and Francis mentioned that she'd been to a Musikfest in Bethlehem back in 1990 and told JoAnn about the photo she had taken.

This reminded JoAnn of a photo she too had taken of a cloud formation at the time of the same Musikfest. You are no doubt one step in front of me now!

Francis told JoAnn to take a look at the photo in her bathroom. She did and gasped in amazement when she saw the cloud formation. It was identical to the one she herself had taken.

Francis told the Athens Banner Herald, "We had to take these pictures within a millisecond of each other."

JoAnn added, "We were actually at the same angle, but we were a quarter mile apart."

So two photos, taken by two strangers, are identical and they meet up many years later. You might think this is simply a coincidence but JoAnn thinks otherwise: It's proof to her that a higher power guides their lives. She said about her move to Winterville, "I knew this is where God wanted us to be. There are no coincidences like that."

More Coincidence and Synchronicity stories:
Five New Brooms Arrived By Coincidence
Visualisation Technique Brings A New Carpet
Photo Taken Of Father Showed His Missing Daughter

Coincidence Workmen Photo

An amusing example today of how a photo taken at the right time, or even coincidentally, can give the picture a whole new meaning.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
Find A Parking Space With The Power Of Coincidence
Nazca Lines And Maria Reiche Coincidence Example The Red Balloon Coincidence

His Birth Newspaper Found By Coincidence

This is one of those coincidence stories where an unlikely find all fits tidily into place. At the time of the happening it quite stunned Robert, whose story this is.

"In 2009 I was having a porch built on the front of my house. The builder who had won the tender had just bought a house about four miles away and told me that he'd work on my house in the morning and his in the afternoon. I agreed with this as long as the porch was completed by 15th July 2009 - this was when I was getting married and moving into the house.

About 8 weeks before the wedding the builder rang me at work to tell me the following:

At his own house he'd discussed with his wife about placing another window in his lounge to allow more light into the room.

He made the hole with a hammer and cold chisel and placed the debris into a rubbish skip. Bricks, rubble and an old newspaper were thrown into the skip.

His wife brought him a cup of tea. As he was drinking this he flicked through the newspaper (dated 12 Sept 1977). To his surprise his eyes met with a section that read 'Births. Congratulations Chris and John on the birth of your son Robert.' And Robert is me!

I was born the day earlier on the 11th of September and my aunt had submitted this to the local paper congratulating her brother (my dad) and his wife. And I now have a copy of the newspaper showing the message - thanks to the builder who built my porch!"

- Robert

Other Coincidences and Synchronicity Stories:
Drenched With Water In The Spanish Mountains Coincidence
A Psychic Reading With Insider Knowledge
Titanic Coincidences

60 Years Of Romance Coincidence

Here's a little story to make you go ahhhh! Reg and Christine Upton of Anslow in Staffordshire, England say that a 'moment of coincidence' has led them to celebrating their diamond wedding.

Over 60 years ago they both had dates in a local park but both were stood up. So, with the help of fate or coincidence, the two wallflowers got together instead - in a perfectly respectable way, of course. And now they have been celebrating their 60th anniversary with 140 guests.

Reg and Christine have five sons, one daughter, 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Reg told the Burton Mail, "I am proud to say that we are still as much in love as we were when we first met and we would do it all over again if we could. I still remember when we first met. I was 19 and Chris was 17, and I remember having to pay for everything at the wedding.

After paying for the food and all the bits and bobs, we literally had a few pence to last us a week – but it was worth it. And on our wedding night, I had to go out and milk the cows, so we spent the next morning in bed with a cup of tea and a cream cake.

We still love each other as much as we did then and still hold hands while we are on holiday and we love each others company."

I guess some things are just meant to be.

More Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
Lucky Numbers That Are With Us Through Life
The World Champion Yo-Yo Coincidence
Winning Lottery Numbers Same Twice In A Row

Classic Anne Parrish Coincidence Story

This is one of those classic coincidence or synchronicity stories which seems to check out okay. It's about the American author Anne Parrish. She wrote novels and also children's literature, such as Floating Island, and lived from 1888 to 1957 - so, yes, it's an old coincidence!

In the 1920s Anne was in Paris with her husband, the industrialist Charles Corliss, and they were browsing the local bookshops. While doing so she picked up a well worn copy of one of her own childhood all time favourites called Jack Frost and Other Stories.

She handed the book to her husband saying how much she loved the book as a child. He flipped open the book and to their amazement on the fly leaf was written: 'Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado' Yes, it was her very own book!

Goodness knows how Jack Frost got to Paris, but it nicely linked Anne Parrish with her childhood. This theme happens time after time in the world of coincidence and synchronicity.

More Coincidences or Synchronicity Stories:
Portuguese Tech Support Worker Coincidence
Unlucky Lottery Coincidence Story
Date On Her Boyfriends Baby Photo Was Her Birthday

Tommy Cooper Pie Crust Coincidence

Something a bit light hearted today. People often seem to see Jesus' picture in bizarre places but how about finding a comedians face in a pie crust!

For non UK readers Tommy Cooper was a cult comedian and magician, who died on stage while performing back in 1984. His catch phrases such as 'just like that' are still heard today as are some of his corny jokes: 'I popped into my local pub the other day and had the shepherd’s pie. He was furious.'

Anyway, chip shop owner Crad Jones was getting stuck into his pie and chips (that's fries in the USA) when he saw an image of Tommy Cooper in his pie. He'd eaten hundreds and hundreds of pies previously but this was a first.

Mr Jones said, "The comparison was amazing. It was definitely Tommy Cooper. I called my daughter over and she recognised it as Tommy Cooper too. I got the pictures because I thought no-one would believe me." Now as if anyone wouldn't!

He went on to say how this exciting find came about, "I was about to eat my lunch in the shop, as I normally do. I got my Peter’s pie, which I always have with chips and peas, and noticed the resemblance of Tommy Cooper on the bottom of it."

And we'll finish the pie with a few typical Tommy Cooper jokes:

I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.

A man walked into the doctors, he said 'I've hurt my arm in several places'.
The doctor said 'well don't go there any more'.

Two fish in a tank, one says to the other - you drive I'll man the guns.

I cleaned the attic with the wife the other day. Now I can’t get the cobwebs out of her hair.

A man went into a bar. He went 'Ouch'. It was an iron bar.

More Coincidences or Synchronicity:
We Came Across Spike Milligan By Chance
Married Couple In The Same Photo As Children
Abraham Lincoln And John F Kennedy Coincidences