How 13 Can 13 Get

It is called TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA... and it affects many people even today; many religions attach extreme significance to certain numbers, 13 being one of them or rather the fear for it makes it so interestingly elusive.

Here are some interesting observations about 13:

1. Industrialist Henry Ford wouldn't do business on Friday, the 13th
2. Multimillionaire Paul Getty once stated "I wouldn't care to be one of thirteen at a table."
3. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt would not dine in a group of 13 people
4. Many hotel guests refuse to stay in Room 13, so rooms are frequently numbered 12, 12A, and 14
5. Some speculate that a fear of the number 13 is the reason we recognize only 12 constellations in the Zodiac, omitting a thirteenth... Ophiuchus ( the Serpent Holder) that, by its location, could be included
6. The ancient Hebrews thought 13 was unlucky because the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the letter M, which is the first letter in the word "mavet," meaning death
7. Some believe that 13 is unlucky because it follows 12, which in ancient Babylonia, China, and Rome was considered to be a lucky number associated with completion and perfection
8. Years ago, London bakers were subject to harsh penalties if they were caught selling bread in what was called short weight. The bakers would add an extra loaf to each dozen to be sure the sale met the minimum weight requirement. They avoided the word thirteen and the process of adding an extra loaf became known as the "baker's dozen
9. Some like to trace the origins of fear of the number 13 to the Biblical version of the Last Supper when Jesus has his final meal with his 12 disciples (making it a count of 13) before being crucified. The inference is clearly that one in the group of 13 will be doomed
10. 13 turns make a traditional hangman's noose. Anything less would not snap a neck
11. A year which contained 13 full moons instead of 12 posed problems for the monks who were in charge of the calendars
12. It is at this point that a person becomes a teenager when headache arises and fever shoots up for the teen towards the family and vice versa
13. And I just felt that there can be no time more apt than this to point out that there are 13 followers right now for this blog. Hahaha! Oh how deep this factor can make me think, not to mention point it out to the reader to follow this blog and save the group... what do we lose after all?

By the by, these 13 points above are my 13 reasons to make this statement. Hope you enjoyed it; else, I might have to wonder how unlucky and unfortunate I could be today writing these 13 points.

SOCRATES: "What Plato is about to say is false."

PLATO: "What Socrates has just said is true."

p.c: http://teamyours.blogspot.in/2011/06/adamanitum-trax-13.html