Even though the elevator so often seems to skip the 13th floor, you’re in luck today: we’ve found 13 cool and not-at-all freaky facts about the number 13. Scroll down for the dish.
1. The fear of the number 13 is called triksideskaphobia (trick-suh-desk-uh-foe-be-uh).
2. Many famous athletes have found great luck wearing the number 13 on their uniform including Wilt Chamberlain, Alex Rodriguez and Pavel Datsyuk.
3. There is are two Friday the 13ths this year (2017), one in January and one in October.
4. There are 13 baked goods in a baker’s dozen. (One for the baker to test!)
5. In Italy, 13 is considered a very lucky number. The expression fare tredici (“to do 13”) means hit the jackpot.
6. 13 is a prime number.
7. The Olsen Twins were born on Fri., June 13, 1986; Steve Buscemi was born on Fri., Dec. 13, 1957 and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born on Fri., Jan. 13, 1961.
8. In a standard 52-card deck of cards there are four suits of 13.
9. There were 13 original colonies of the United States.
10. Because of the 13 original colonies, the first US flag had 13 stripes and 13 white stars.
- There are 13 stars on the Great Seal of the United States.
- To have a Friday the 13th occur, the month in which it occurs must begin on a Sunday.
- The number 13 is the square root of 169.
—Amber Guetebier
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