Legend has it that the number 13 in ancient Rome represents misfortune. Who knows what it is?

Desai traced the fear of 13 back to a Norwegian myth about 12 god holding a banquet in their paradise, Varhala Palace. Loki, who was not invited, was the 13 guest at the banquet. When he got there, he asked Holder, the god of darkness, to shoot Balder, the god of happiness, with an arrow pointed by mistletoe. Balder died, and the whole earth fell into darkness and sadness. From that moment on, the number 13 became an ominous sign.

The unlucky number 13 is also involved in the Bible. Judas, the preacher who betrayed Jesus, was the 13 guest at the last supper. At the same time, in ancient Rome, there were 12 groups of witches in legend, and 13 groups were considered as demons.

Thomas Faessler, a scientist at the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Delaware in Newark, said that the number 13 was so unfortunate because it was after 12. Faessler believes that digital scientists believe that 12 is a "complete" number, with 12 months in a year, 12 gods in the zodiac, 12 laborers in Olympus, 12 tribes in Hercules. When it exceeds 12 a little, 13 "slightly exceeds' complete' a little", this number becomes unstable.

Now the fear of 13 is still very strong. According to Desai's survey, 80% of high-rise buildings don't have the floor of 13, many airports have missed the door of 13, and hospitals and hotels usually don't have the room number of 13. On the streets of Florence, Italy, the number between 12 and 14 is 12.5. Among the famous French sonnets, they once thought that they could be the first 14 guests at the banquet and get rid of an unfortunate fate.