4. 上绞刑架要走13步，刽子手的套索有13道旋
Traditionally, there used to be 13 steps leading up the gallows. There’s also a legend that a hangman’s noose traditionally contained 13 turns.
5. 阿波罗13号事故——唯一一次失败的月球任务
Apollo 13 is the only unsuccessful moon mission. An oxygen tank exploded and the survival of the astronauts on board was pretty touch-and-go for several days, but they did all come home safely in the end.
6. 1307年10月13日，圣殿骑士团遭到法国国王下令捕杀
There was a mass arrest and execution of the Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307.
7. 异端女巫团被认为有13位成员
Although a coven is now just considered to be any group of witches, it was once believed that a coven was made up of exactly 13 members.
8. 古老的迷信认为名字里有13个字母的人，会有魔鬼的命。
There’s an old superstition that says if you have 13 letters in your name, you’re bound to have the devil’s luck. For example, Charles Manson, Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all contain 13 letters.
9. 传言如果13个人同桌吃饭，那么其中有一人会在次年遇害
Seating 13 people at a table would result in the death of one of them in the year to follow. In the late 1800s, there was a group called The Thirteen Club. They met on the 13th of the month and had dinner 13 people to a table. Members of the club included five U.S. presidents: Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and Chester A. Arthur. And, if you’re keeping track, Chester A. Arthur only became president because he was vice when Garfield was assassinated.
10. 黑色星期五——恰逢周五的13号是个极其不幸的日子
Friday, October 13, 1972, was a bad day in the history of aviation. That’s the day that Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 infamously crashed in the Andes, killing 29 people. On the exact same day, 174 people were killed when a Soviet Aeroflot crashed in a lake about a kilometer from the runway.
11. 一年中有13次满月便会不幸
A year with 13 full moons instead of 12 was considered a very unfortunate circumstance, especially by the monks who had charge of the calendar of thirteen months for that year, and it upset the regular arrangement of church festivals. For this reason thirteen came to be considered an unlucky number.
12. 小孩从13岁开始迎来叛逆期，一个个像“小魔鬼”一样可怕……（这也算是理由？）
Kids officially become teenagers at the age of 13, and we all know that’s a scary phase.
看过以上这12个理由，你或许会真的信了这些理由，也或许会像华生一样觉得这些理由都是胡编乱造、生搬硬套的。不过，我认为下面的这第13个理由，才是真正使13变得“不幸”的真相。
13. 数字13被认为是“打破圆满”的数字
In numerology, the number 12 is considered to be the representation of perfection and completion. It stands to reason, then, that trying to improve upon perfection by adding a digit is a very bad idea indeed — your greed will be rewarded with bad luck.
就好像汉语中说“十全十美”把10和完美华生等号一样，西方人也把“12”作为“完美”的象征。这应该归功于十二进制对西方世界的深远影响：一年有12个月，黄道有12宫，一天有24（12x2）个小时，一个小时有60（12x5）分钟，等等……
12进制影响最明显的，莫过于英语数词：one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, night, ten, eleven, twelve从1数到12都有各自的单词对应不重复，而从13开始就变成了thirteen。
老外都觉得“十二全十二美”很好，而十三就是过了头。人应该知足常乐，而贪婪会给人带来厄运。所以13这个数字注定不招老外待见。
所以华生觉得，与其说是数字13会带来不幸，倒不如说是人们因为不喜欢数字13而把它作为不幸的象征。因此才会有那么多生搬硬套给13“栽赃”的理由，而其他的数字却被人为地选择性忽略了。比如数字17，某航空公司两次空难的航班编号都包含这个数字，难道它不比13更可怕吗？
不过，别人怎么想是别人的事情，无需去纠正别人的固有看法。你要做的，只是去了解为什么13会使人联想到不幸，以此来避免在生活中因为误用而冒犯到他人。比如你遇到一个虔诚的基督徒，就不适合约他在13号的晚上吃晚餐，一桌13个人，点13道菜……
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