If you happen to be in America, try checking out their hotels and look for the 13th floor. Can’t find it? Don’t worry; it’s normal.
In the U.S., most hotels may have beautiful mezzanine floor systems, but they don’t have a 13th floor. Well, that’s because they’re being sensitive to a particular set of people.
These people are called triskaidekaphobics. They’re afraid of the number 13, believing that it’s an unlucky number. And if you check out the history of this number, you might also believe that it’s indeed unlucky.
The 13th disciple
One of the most prominent reasons that the number 13 is believed to be unlucky or even evil involves Judas Iscariot, Jesus Christ’s disciple. According to biblical history, during the Last Supper of Christ, there were a total of 13 people in the room, including the Son of God.
When He spoke with His disciples, Jesus Christ told them that someone in their group will betray Him in the near future. It was Judas Iscariot, the 13th person in the group. This is why the number 13 is considered to be unlucky in most Catholic countries.
Friday the 13th
Another reason many people distrust the number 13 is the probable origin of Friday the 13th. According to history, the superstition stems from the mysterious group, the Knights Templar.
The Knights Templar was a Catholic military order founded in 1119 that was heavily involved in the Crusades. This group became famous because historians say that they invented the modern version of banking.
They became so powerful and their banks became so famous that many powerful people started to take out loans from them. A king who was deep in debt to the military order chose to destroy the Knights Templar in order to avoid paying them back.
King Philip IV of France had a huge debt to the Knights Templar. Rather than pay them back, he chose to have them arrested on October 13, 1307, which was a Friday. So, that’s how Friday the 13th became a superstition.
44th floor
But the 13th floor isn’t the only floor that people are wary of. In Chinese culture, the number 4 is considered to be unlucky because when translated to their language, it sounds similar to the word ‘death’.
This is why if you enter any building owned or constructed by the Chinese people, you’ll notice in the elevator buttons that there isn’t one for the fourth floor. It’s also why the Millennium Tower in Boston, Massachusetts doesn’t have a 44th floor, too.
Boston’s Millennium Tower is owned by an Asian corporation, which is why the contractors didn’t establish a 44th floor. The contractors said that they were just trying to be respectful to the owners of the building.
Regardless of the fact that superstitions could never be scientifically proven to be true, some hotel owners and managers still abide by these beliefs. This is because there are still a lot of people who don’t wish to book a room on the 13th floor or any other ‘unlucky’ floor.
