It’s Friday the thirteenth, which brings specters of paraskavedekatriaphobia, which trumps triskaidekaphobia.

[Image found at: http://www.hauntingreview.com]

Apparently, since the days of The Canterbury Tales in the 14th century Friday has been considered a bad luck day (and a Black Friday Stock Market plunge doesn’t help), and thirteen has some ominous history (for example, there were thirteen at the Last Supper, and thirteen turns make a traditional hangman’s noose). Friday the thirteenth has some history as well: on a Friday the 13th in October, 1307, the King of France ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar.

But not all cultures consider thirteen to be unlucky, and many successful sports stars have worn the number 13, so it can’t really be all that cursed a number.

There are also a few interesting mathematical facts about the number 13 (that have nothing to do with luck):

It is the sixth prime number, and the smallest emirp (a prime number which is a different prime when the numbers are reversed).

It is  a Fibonacci number

it is one of only three known Wilson primes.

There are thirteen Archimedean solids

 

And, whatever else is happening in the world today, in Vancouver, B.C., it is a wonderfully clear, mild winter day. And I’d call that lucky.