The number

 

All about 13 

New York's insurance letter 13 taking action to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and transgender status to ensure that all New Yorkers are protected. 

The number 13 is known in some Western culture as a symbol of bad luck, hotels, hospitals, and skyscrapers sometimes omit the 13th floor or room, but in some cultures it has a positive, associations with transformation, femininity, and mathematics.  In Italy the number 13 is linked to fertility considered a lucky number, representing abundance and positive energy. And in Hebrew, the number 13 symbolizes love, unity, and coming of age, marking the Bar Mitzvah age where a Jewish boy becomes religiously responsible.  The United States has a strong connection, with the original 13 colonies. Reflected on the Great Seal with 13 stripes, 13 stars, 13 arrows, and 13 olive leaves.

In most cultures the superstition linked  to Friday the 13th combines the unlucky number with Friday, the day of Jesus's crucifixion. Judas, the disciple betrayed Jesus at the last supper, was the 13th person at the table. The devil, is mentioned as a dragon  13 times in the book of Revelations. The number 13 follows the "perfect" number 12 (12 months, 12 apostles, 12 hours on a clock), so 13 represents chaos or evil. 

 

Is it the planet's unluckiest number? 

The Asteroid 99942 was discovered in 2004 with a chance that during its April 13th 2029 close encounter with Earth, it would pass through a gravitational keyhole which would have set up a future impact exactly seven years later on Easter Sunday, April 13, 2036. As per NASA, Astronomers closely tracked the asteroid and recalculated to impact in 2068 and later, found there is now no risk of it impacting Earth for at least 100 years.  

On April 13 2029 the asteroid  99942, now also known  as  Apophis will, for a short time, be closer to Earth than satellites and visible in the night sky to the naked eye.