Why isn't there a row 13 on aeroplanes?

Question

Is this true? There isn't a row 13 on some aeroplanes.
And is it true that in the US some high-rise buildings label the floor that follows 12 as 14 and that in France there isn't a house with the number 13? What about friday the 13th? Where did this fear of a number come from?

Answer 1

Thirteen is regarded as an unlucky number in many cultures. Thirteen may be considered a "bad" number simply because it is one more than 12, which is a popularly used number in many cultures (possibly due to it being a highly composite number). When a group of 13 objects or persons is divided into two, three, four or six equal groups, there is always one leftover, "unlucky" object or person.

Another reason it is considered unlucky is that man can count from 1-12 with his 10 fingers and 2 feet, but not beyond that, so 13 is unknown and scary to him.

Unreasoned fear of the number 13 is termed triskaidekaphobia. Due to this fear, some tall buildings have resorted to skipping the "thirteenth floor", either by numbering it "14" (though it's really still the thirteenth floor) or by designating the floor as "12a" or something similar. Similarly, some streets do not contain a house number 13.

Some Christian traditions have it that at the Last Supper, Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th to sit at the table, and that for this reason 13 is considered to carry a curse of sorts. However, there is evidence that 13 may have been considered unlucky in the pre-Christian era: the Code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws created ca. 1760 BC, does not contain a thirteenth law.

According to another interpretation, the number 13 is unlucky because it is the number of full moons in a year. Actually two full moons in a single calendar month (referred to as a Blue Moon) only happens about every 2.5 years, so to say there are 13 full moons in a year is false. On average, there will be 41 months that have two full moons in a century, so a Blue Moon actually occurs about once every two-and-a-half years, and is in no way related to the number 13.[4] Women living in a natural environment tend to have their menses during a full moon.[citation needed] A twenty-eight day menstruation cycle is most typical, so a woman usually has 13 menses in a year. Supposedly, in the past, a woman who menstruated during a full moon might be thought a witch.

Early nursery rhymes stated there were thirteen months in a year because of the natural moon cycle that was used to count the lunar year. In England, a calendar of thirteen months of 28 days each, plus one extra day, known as "a year and a day" was still in use up to Tudor times. The lunar year was the easiest to count for cultures before scientific methods existed to observe the movement of the earth around the sun, so it was associated with worship of the pagan Great Goddess[citation needed] for thousands of years, which may be another reason for 13 becoming a taboo number. Taboo often is misunderstood when only half of the totem and taboo relationship is recognized. Among religions having totem and taboo characteristics, that which is taboo on a regular basis, may become quite sacred on special occasions.

The thirteenth of a month is likewise ominous, particularly when it falls on a Friday (see Friday the 13th), a Tuesday in the Greek and Spanish-speaking world, or a Monday in Russia. Months with a Friday the 13th must always begin on a Sunday.

In the Persian culture, 13 is also considered an unlucky number. On the 13th day of the Persian new year (Norouz), people consider staying at home unlucky, and go outside for a picnic in order to ward off the bad luck.

Most race car drivers consider 13 a very unlucky number, as a car carrying that number has never won the Indianapolis 500 or a NASCAR Nextel Cup race, and most all Formula 1 teams opt out of carrying the number 13 when car numbers are given out to teams on basis of points. Only once in recent years (1991, Ricky Johnson) has an AMA Motocross rider chosen #13 instead of #14. Some NASCAR tracks refuse to have a pit stall #13.

In Tarot decks, the #13th card of the Major Arcana is Death (Tarot card). While Death is not typically interpreted literally, it is possible that this furthered the perception of 13 as an unlucky number.

Although it may be unrelated the legion with which Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon with was the Legio XIII Gemina or the 13th legion.

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.

Several successful athletes have worn the number 13. Dan Marino, an American football player known for passing more yards than any other quarterback in NFL history, wore the number 13. Another athlete 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 and Steve Nash is currently wearing it for the Phoenix Suns. And Mats Sundin wears 13 in the NHL.

In Judaism, 13 is considered a lucky number. One explanation for this is that the word אחד echad, Hebrew for 'one' and thus a way of describing the unique God, has the numerological value of 13 according to the Gematria system.

Triskaidekaphobia is a fear of the number 13. It is usually considered to be a superstition. A specific fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.
Some Christian traditions have it that at the Last Supper Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th to sit at the table, and that for this reason 13 is considered to carry a curse of sorts.

Fear of 13 has also been linked to that fact that a lunisolar calendar must have 13 months in some years, while the solar Gregorian calendar and lunar Islamic calendar always have 12 months in a year.

Triskaidekaphobia may have also affected the Vikings — it is believed that Loki in the Norse pantheon was the 13th god. More specifically, Loki was believed to have engineered the murder of Baldr, and was the 13th guest to arrive at the funeral. This is perhaps related to the superstition that if thirteen people gather, one of them will die in the following year. This was later Christianized in some traditions into saying that Satan was the 13th angel.

The Mesopotamian Code of Hammurabi (ca. 1760 BC) omits 13 in its numbered list.[citation needed] This seems to indicate a superstition existed long before the Christian era.

See also Friday the 13th for information concerning the traditions and superstitions surrounding this supposedly unlucky day.

In a Friends episode, Ross believes this means "a fear of triscuits".

The arrest and murder of the Knights Templar occurred on Friday October 13, 1307. This event is said to be the origin of the supposed unluckiness of Friday the 13th.
Infamous serial killers Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and Theodore Bundy all have 13 letters in their names.
Microsoft will not be naming its next Office release as Office 13 (Microsoft shipped Office 12 (a.k.a Microsoft Office 2007) in November 2006) - the working title for the next release of Office (which includes Microsoft Exchange Server) is called Microsoft Office 14.
In Codename: Kids Next Door, there is a jinx in the Kids Next Door who is numbered 13 (Numbuh 13).
In Formula One, no car carries the number 13.

good luck!!

Answer 2

Some planes do have a row 13 but not all. Most high rise buildings don't have a 13th floor because of superstition of bad luck. I don't know where this superstition came from other than the number 13 is associated with Satan. I personally have never had a bad Friday the 13th. Guess I'm lucky.

Answer 3

"Superstitions are not based on rationale and practical thought. They've evolved from ancient religious or supernatural genres, a huge resource that includes belief in specific events (Halloween), apparitions (vampires, werewolves and ghosts), charms and incantations (salt over the shoulder, avoiding pavement cracks) and predicting the future (horoscopes, palm reading).

Another famous superstition revolves around the number 13, with the date being an inspiration for a series of horror films entitled Friday the 13th. There are many different stories that have evolved to give this date its notoriety, among them:

* The biblical reference to the Last Supper, with Judas betraying Jesus. He was the 13th guest at the table. Jesus was reportedly crucified on Friday.

* In ancient Rome a witch's coven comprised 12, with the 13th member being the devil.

* A Norse myth tells of 12 gods dining at Valhallah, their heaven. A 13th uninvited guest, Loki, arrived, persuading the god of darkness to slay the god of happiness.

Numerologists consider the number 12 a complete number for several reasons: the number of apostles, the total number of tribes in Israel, the number of months in a year, the number of Olympian gods, the zodiac signs and Hercules' labours. 13's association with bad luck is the simple, unavoidable fact that it exceeds a complete number by just one.

Another modern myth about this unfortunate number claims that if you have 13 letters in your name you will have the devil's luck. So is it a coincidence that the following characters reflect this trait?

Jack the Ripper Charles Manson Jeffrey Dahmer Theodore Bundy Albert De Salvo "

http://www.ghosthaunts.com/13.html

Answer 4

I don't know, but I believe the fear of 13 is called trikadekaphobia. (Don't quote me on that, I just memorized it a long time ago from a random almanac or something. I'm not sure it's right.)

Answer 5

Some people think that the number 13 is unlucky. That's why.

Answer 6

To make people ask why. Remember there is no such thing as bad publicity.