The unluckiest number of them all
We are on a much-needed holiday at present. The elevator takes us to our room on the 20th floor. But, alas dear bloggers, this is a misnomer. You see, there is no 13th floor in this hotel. That makes our 20th floor the 19th by default and that is a nice, prime floor to be on. Alas, the 13th floor doesn’t exist, unless you count up from Floor 1, in which case it is the 14th floor which is the 13th. So, the only mathematical conclusion I can come to, is that 13 is the loneliest number of all. Unlucky for some too, which is why it doesn’t figure on our elevator.
This begs the question – why is 13th an unlucky number? Some believe it’s unlucky because one of those thirteen, Judas Iscariot, was the betrayer of Jesus Christ. From the 1890s, a number of English language sources relate the “unlucky” thirteen to an idea that at the Last Supper, Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th to sit at the table. Perhaps that’s why few people are named Judas today?
Other 13 facts:
- The thirteenth Apollo space mission was called Apollo 13. An accident happened involving Apollo 13 on 13 April 1970, two days after its takeoff at 13:13. There was an explosion on board and spacecraft began to leak oxygen.
- Puerto Rico, Florida, and the Virgin Islands suffered disastrous damage on Friday dated, 13 September 1928, when a hurricane killed 2,000 people causing approximately $25 million in damage.
- There is no building in Paris bearing number 13.
- Italy omits the number 13 from its national lottery.
- Cancellations on trains and planes, reduced business activities, and absenteeism from work on the 13th of every month costs the USA about $1 billion a year.
