How and why did the number 13 become such an unlucky number?
In: Other
You should have asked when and where, because those answers are easier. It was somewhere around New England, and some time in the early 1900s. That’s about as much info as anyone can actually find, the rest is pure speculation.
The Unlucky 13 thing is a purely American phenomenon, and people can only guess at its origin. There’s one theory that suggests Judas Iscariot (not to be confused with Judas Priest) was the 13th apostle, but that doesn’t hold water because someone would have probably figured it out sooner than almost 2 thousand years later. There’s another theory that the 13th law was omitted from Hammurabi’s Law Code, but that one falls flat because none of those laws were numbered. It might be connected to the original 13 British Colonies, but again… why did it take so long and what the hell is unlucky about that?
The theory that makes the most sense (to me, anyway) is that 12 is a very natural number, which means thirteen is unnatural. 12 months in a year, 12 hours in half a day, 12 beers in a 12-pack, 12 eggs in a dozen, the 12 Days Of Christmas, and so on. 12 is a nice even number that everyone seems to like. Of course, this theory makes perfect sense to me because my invisible friend just plain hates odd numbers. No idea why, he won’t say.
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