Unlucky Number 13 History

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On April 11th, NASA launched their third manned mission to the moon, Apollo 13. Two days later, April 13th, at exactly 13:13 Central Standard Time, one of the oxygen tanks exploded, resulting in a power shortage and failure of the two remaining oxygen tanks. The space shuttle never made it to the moon and the mission was deemed a failure. Many people believed that this was a result of the mission being numbered 13. A number considered by many to be unlucky. The superstition surrounding the number 13 has been around for a long time and still exists today. Most condominiums and hotels do not have a 13th floor, numbering the 14th floor following the 12th. In some countries, a meeting will not take place or dinner will not be served if there are…show more content…
Now let us go back in time and uncover the origins of how the number 13 came to be associated with bad luck. Our journey starts in ancient Mesopotamia. King Hammurabi, sixth king of Babylon, wrote a set of laws, called Hammurabi’s Code, on a giant stone tablet, standing over 8 feet tall. However, after the tablet was recovered in 1991, the 13th law was missing. It was recorded on the tablet that the 13th law was missing because the number was considered evil and unlucky. In medieval times, there were two common punishments for crimes: hanging and beheading. Traditionally, there were 13 steps leading up to the gallows, which was used to hang criminals. Also, a properly constructed hangman’s noose consists of exactly 13 wraps. The cost of a beheader was 13 pence. Because both these punishments were associated with death, this furthered the perception of 13 as an unlucky number. Also, Tarot readers were very popular in medieval times. In Tarot decks, the 13th card is…show more content…
The Indian Pantheon has 13 Buddha statues; the ancient Mexicans had 13 snake gods; and there are 13 occurrences of the quantity 13 in the Great Pyramid of Gizeh in Egypt. It is prevalent throughout society even today. Several successful sports figures, including Alex Rodriguez – a three time MVP, Mats Sundin – a nine time all star, NFL hall-of-famer Dan Marino, Kristine Lilly – US women’s soccer team captain, and Wilt Chamberlain – a four time MVP and hall-of-famer, have all donned the number 13. However, it’s not just in sports. A baker’s dozen contains 13 donuts; there are 13 cards of each suit in a deck; and, on the TV show House, the title character’s diagnostics team has a doctor nicknamed “Thirteen”. It takes the Earth 13 weeks to travel from the equinoxes to the solstices. The number 13 occurs quite a lot in American culture. Initially, the US flag had 13 stars and 13 stripes to represent the first 13 colonies. Today, there are still 13 stripes – 7 red and 6 white. Interestingly, the phrase “July the Fourth” has 13 letters. The Great Seal of the US features an eagle with 13 tail feathers holding 13 olive branches with 13 olives in one talon and 13 arrows in the other. There are also 13 stars above the eagle’s head and 13 stripes on the flag covering the bird’s body. These are just a few of the examples where the number 13
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