"If 13 people sit down to dinner together, one will die within the year."
As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the dinner guests...er, disciples...betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion. Interestingly enough, precisely the same superstition has been attributed to the ancient Vikings. Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla when Loki, the god of mischief who was not invited, turned up, bringing the total number of guests to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to kill Balder the Good, favourite of the gods.
"If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck."
The serial murderers Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names. Coincidentally ‘Prime Minister’ also has exactly 13 letters.
"Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck."
One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named 'H.M.S. Friday'. They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday....and was never seen again.
“Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams.”
Similarly, “If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow.”
And, “If you start a trip on a Friday, you'll have misfortune.”
Tarot Card number 13 is the Death Card, depicting the Grim Reaper (although it is read as transition or change and not literal death).
Thirteen is also know as a 'baker’s dozen'. It is superstition that prevents this number be mentioned by name, in fact the extra loaf, presumably the runt of the litter, was baked as a special bribe for the devil not to spoil the batch of loaves.
The ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 13:13 local time on Apr. 11, 1970 on Pad 39 (3 times 13). The sum of the date's digits (4-11-70) is 13 (as in 4+1+1+7+0 = 13). And the explosion that crippled the spacecraft occurred on April 13 (not a Friday). The crew did make it back to Earth safely, though.
Hotels rarely have a room number 13. Usually it is called 12a or 14. Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. Most hospitals do not have a number 13 room, and few airplanes have a 13th row.
Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment.
In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the gallows....13 knots in a hangman's noose, while the guillotine blade falls through 13 feet.
Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.
And, looking to the future….the asteroid 2004 MN4 will make its close encounter on Friday, April 13, 2029.
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