Criticism of the number 13

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Main article: 13 (number)

See also: Triskaidekaphobia

The number thirteen has been regarded as an unlucky number as early as 1760 BC. Fear of the number 13 is termed triskaidekaphobia. The thirteenth of a month is likewise ominous, particularly when it falls on a Friday in some English-speaking cultures, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Belgium and Germany (see Friday the 13th) or a Tuesday in the Greek and Spanish-speaking world.

Thirteen may be considered a "bad" or "unlucky" number simply because when a group of 13 objects or people is divided into two, three, four or six equal groups, there is always one leftover, or "unlucky", object or person.

According to another interpretation, the number 13 is unlucky because it is the number of full moons in a contemporary year, but two full moons in a single calendar month (mistakenly referred to as a blue moon in a magazine article of the 1940s) only happens about every 5 years.

It was suggested by Charles A. Platt writing in 1925 that the reason 13 is considered unlucky is that a person can count from 1–12 with their 8 fingers, two thumbs and 2 feet, but not beyond that, so the number 13 is unknown, hence frightening, hence unlucky.^[1] This idea discounts the use of toes or other body parts in counting.

Another hypothesis about the origin of Friday the 13th as an unlucky day is attributed to this being the day that the Knights Templar were slaughtered in a collaboration between King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V finishing with the burning at the stake of Jacques De Molay.

13 is the 6th prime number. 6 is sometimes considered an unlucky number due to its association with 666.

Examples

In Scotland, there is no gate 13 in any airport, instead there is a gate 12B.

Some airplanes skip a row 13, going straight from 12 to 14.^[2]

Some tall buildings have resorted to skipping the "thirteenth floor", either by numbering it "14"^[3] or as "12a".

Some streets do not contain a house number 13.

In some forms of motor sport, for example Formula One, there is no number 13 car.

In many cultures, getting married on any day of the week that falls under number 13 is highly discouraged.

There is a superstition that should thirteen sit at a table to dine, one will die in the next year. This prompted the formation of The Thirteen Club to debunk it.

The Code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws created ca. 1760 BC, does not contain a thirteenth law.

Microsoft plans to skip Office 13 for being "an unlucky number," going directly from Office 12 to Office 14. [1]

The creators of the online game Kingdom of Loathing avoid the number 13 in all of their programming.

The College of William and Mary claims 13 priorities, or achievements of the academic world, which they accomplished before any other university or college in the United States. For example, William and Mary was the first college in the US to establish an honor code. A marble plaque commemorating these 13 priorities hangs on the exterior wall of the Wren Building, the nation's oldest academic building still in continuous use. Today, the Wren Building houses the college's Religious Studies department.

The Apollo 13 spacecraft malfunctioned on April 13 (US time zones) after being launched on April 11th at 13:13 CST, forcing it to return to Earth without a landing on the moon and imperiling its crew.[2]

After 13 years of being the richest man in the world, Microsoft Corporation chairman Bill Gates lost this title, according to Forbes magazine's 2008 list of the world's billionaires.[3]

On the first two albums by the Avant-Garde metal band Fantômas, Track 13 has no title, is unlisted on the album cover and consists of a few seconds of silence.

Princess Diana died when her car hit the thirteenth pillar of a tunnel in Paris, on August 31, 1997.

The number 13 is associated with bad luck in some countries, and even has a specifically recognized phobia, Triskaidekaphobia, a word which was coined in 1911. Friday the 13th has been considered an unlucky day since the 1800s, as a combination between an unlucky day, Friday, and the number 13.

• There are traditionally thirteen steps leading up to a gallows. It is, however, an urban myth that there are thirteen turns in a hangman's noose (there are most commonly eight turns.)

• Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon with the 13th Legion, marking the beginning of Caesar's civil war and the eventual death of the Roman Republic.

• Trece is the Spanish word for thirteen; the number 13 is used to identify members of 13th Sureños - chicano gang members in the U.S. that identify themselves with la Eme - the Mexican Mafia.

• In the shojo manga Fruits Basket, 13 members of the sohma family are cursed with the twelve animal spirits of the Chinese Zodiac, plus the cat who was, according to legend left out of the Zodiac.

• Before the plot was foiled, there were thirteen plotters in the Gunpowder Plot.^[4]

• Despite having played in World Cup and Champion League Cup Finals, Michael Ballack, who wears the jersey both for his club Chelsea and the Germany national team, has never been the recipient of a winner's medal in his life.

In religion

• There were thirteen participants at the Last Supper. Tradition states that Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th to sit at the table.
• The number of Norse gods (there were 12) at a banquet that was crashed by the evil spirit Loki (making 13) who killed Baldr with an arrow/spear made out of mistletoe using Hodr, thus marking the beginning of Ragnarok.

References

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