Number 13 and Triskaidekaphobia

Hi guys, This article will talk about the myths surrounding number 13,The fear for number 13 is called 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. Another theory as to why the date and number 13 is considered unlucky is that, on the day of Friday the 13th after the final Crusade the pope had sent out men to capture and burn alive the last 13 Knights Templar in order to put an end to the Crusades.

Mythology has its own story. The Norse gods were
having a banquet for 12 at the Valhalla when Loki,
one of the evil gods gatecrashed the party. Balder
was the god of light, joy and reconciliation. He had
a blind brother whom Loki tricked into throwing a
sprig of mistletoe on Balder's chest which killed
him ( Balder). Mistletoe is the only earthly thing
that was fatal to Balder.

Later in the 18th century, this belief about Friday the 13th
was again reinforced. The British ship HMS Friday was
launched on a Friday , the 13th , the captain was a man
named Jim Friday. The ship was never seen nor heard
from again.

Another theory links the bad luck associated with the number 13 with Jesus Christ's last supper where the persons around the table, counting the Christ and the twelve apostles, was, indeed, thirteen. This would also be the reason why it is considered unlucky to have 13 guests at a table.

Some "unlucky" events associated with 13 is
the famous Apollo 13 mission in 1970. It was
launched on 1313 hours, from pad 39 ( 13 x 3),
3 of the sleeping arrangements for the astronauts
were timed to start at 13 minutes past the hour
and so was one of the possible splashdown.

On April 13th, the first of the several setbacks to
Apollo 13 occurred and this added drama to the mission.

In many hotels and skyscrapers, there is no 13th
floor.Most airplanes have no seat No. 13. In Italy,
it is usual to leave out 13 in numbering the
lottery tickets.

LUCKY 13

In Sikhism, the number 13 is considered a special number since 13 is tera in Punjabi, which also means "yours" (as in, "I am yours, O Lord"). The legend goes that when Guru Nanak Dev was taking stock of items as part of his employment with a village merchant, he counted from 1 to 13 (in Punjabi) as one does normally; and thereafter he would just repeat "tera", since all items were God's creation. The merchant confronted Guru Nanak about this, but found everything to be in order after the inventory was checked. April 13 also usually turns out to be Vaisakhi every year, which is the Sikh New Year and the major Sikh Holiday.

Several successful sports figures have worn the number 13. Ozzie Guillén, manager of the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox, has worn the number throughout his baseball career. Alex Rodriguez began wearing it upon joining the New York Yankees (three, the number he had previously worn, is retired by the Bronx Bombers to honor Babe Ruth). Dan Marino, an American football player known for passing the 2nd most yards in NFL history, wore the number 13. Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain wore the number 13 on his jersey throughout his NBA career. Also, FIBA rules require a player to wear the number in international competitions (only numbers from 4 to 15 could be worn, and as there are 12 players, one must wear 13); Chris Mullin, who wore #20 in college and #17 in the NBA, wore #13 for both (1984 and 1992) of his Olympic appearances. Shaquille O'Neal wore #13 in 1996; Tim Duncan wore #13 in 2004. Steve Nash is currently wearing it for the Phoenix Suns. Yao Ming wore it in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Mats Sundin, Pavel Datsyuk, Bill Guerin, and Michael Cammalleri wear 13 in the NHL. One of Iceland's all time best handball players, Sigurður Sveinsson, wore the number 13 when he played for the national team. In association football, both Gerd Müller and Michael Ballack have favoured the number 13, among others.

These are few facts about number 13, collected from various sources, Thanks for reading this article, Signing off is KP