What’s the world’s oldest airport? Why is there an “X” in PDX? Is there a way to get a nap between flights? And what happens to the change you leave in airport security bins?
Airports are big, crowded, and full of questions. The following eight facts might change the way you catch your next flight — or at least end some mysteries.
In Airport Codes, “X” Is Just Filler
The “X” and the end of “PHX” makes sense for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport — but what about “LAX” for Los Angeles and “PDX” for Portland?
Turns out, the “X” is left over from the days when airports used two-letter codes from the National Weather Service. With the rapid growth of air travel, it soon became apparent that two letters wouldn’t be enough. When International Air Transport Association (IATA) three-letter codes became the norm in the 1930s, some airports gained an “X” at the end.
Then there’s Sioux City Gateway Airport, which is blessed with the IATA code “SUX.” In 1988 and 2002, officials petitioned to change the code, and were offered five options by the FAA: GWU, GYO, GYT, SGV, and GAY. They opted to embrace what they already had instead, and introduced a line of merchandise — beanies, mugs, and more — emblazoned with the “SUX” logo.
The Wright Brothers’ Airport Is the World’s Oldest Continuously Operating Airport
Flight pioneer Wilbur Wright established College Park Airport in College Park, Maryland, in 1909 as a training ground for two military officers as they got ready to fly the government’s first airplane. More than a century later, it’s still a public airport, making it the oldest continuously operating airport in the world.
There’s a little bit of an asterisk on that record, though, in that you can’t really catch a flight there — unless you have or know somebody with an aircraft and a pilot’s license. Which brings us to…
Hamburg Airport Is the Oldest Continuously Operating Commercial Airport
If you’re looking for the oldest airport with terminals and plane tickets, look no further than Hamburg Airport, established in 1911. But while America was building its aviation history on airplanes, Germany built the facility around the country’s own technology: Zeppelins.
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the inventor of the Zeppelin airship in the 1890s, gave an enthusiastic speech about the future of air travel in Hamburg in 1910. Residents believed in his vision, and the first building at the Hamburg Airport was an airship hangar, built in 1912. However, it took less than a decade for airplanes to start taking over. The airport broke the one-million passenger mark in 1961.
Airlines Pay Up to Eight Figures for Slots on the Airport’s Schedule
To keep air traffic running smoothly and safely in more than 200 of the world’s busiest airports, airport operators grant airlines slots that give them authorization to take off or land at certain times — and in many places, demand is far outpacing supply.
The most expensive slots are at Heathrow International Airport in London, England. In 2016, Kenya Airways sold its only slot to Oman Air for a whopping $75 million. That’s on the high side, but eight figures is relatively common. One year later, two slots fetched the same price when Scandinavian Airlines decided to sell.
Because an airline can lose that valuable asset if it doesn’t use it at least 80% of the time in a six-month period, you might see some unusual scheduling. At one point, British Mediterranean Airways was operating round-trip flights between Heathrow and Cardiff Airport in Rhoose, Wales — a journey of just a few hours by car or train — with zero passengers, angering environmental activists (among others). And with demand for air travel having decreased during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some airlines aren’t canceling their underbooked flights, leading to more empty planes journeying through the skies.
Your Confiscated Items Might Be at Auction
Ever wonder where your favorite nail clippers and corkscrews went after airport security confiscated them? In some states, they end up in government auctions — and they sell in bulk.
Collections of forbidden goods, from 12 pounds of flashlights to 7 pounds of cigar cutters to an assortment of foldable shovels, end up on government-asset marketplace GovDeals.com. There are so many pocket knives that they get sorted into different categories before going on the market, ending up in lots of 100 generic-brand knives; 14 pounds of knives with names, dates, or locations on them; or 14 pounds of small-size Swiss Army Knives.
Lost luggage is also sold if it’s not picked up within three months, but the process is a little more streamlined. A reseller called Unclaimed Baggage sorts through and resells, repurposes, or recycles the bags and their contents. Speaking of airport security …
TSA Collects Your Loose Change
With hundreds of thousands of travelers throwing wallets into bins every day, some loose change is bound to fall out and get left behind. Over time, that really adds up; in 2020 alone, the Transit Security Administration (TSA) gathered more than $500,000 in loose change, and that’s during a pandemic — in 2019, they picked up more than $900,000. The biggest source of lost change was Harry Reid (formerly McCarran) International Airport near Las Vegas, where passengers left behind $37,611.61.
The TSA has to submit reports to Congress every year on how much they’ve gathered and what they spent it on. They ended 2020 with $1.5 million, including money leftover from previous years, and spent much of it on pandemic mitigation measures like masks, gloves, and face shields.
Airport Nap Hotels Exist
During a longer layover or delay, travelers sometimes stay at nearby hotels, then head back through security to catch their next flight. But if you just need a quick nap or a moment of quiet — or you’re worried about oversleeping — transit hotels are located literally inside the airport.
Aerotel has locations throughout Asia (and a few outside) for some sleep and a shower between, before, or after flights, whether you need an hour-long nap or an overnight stay. Yotel, with airport locations in Amsterdam, London, Istanbul, Paris, and Singapore, fills a similar niche: You can book as little as four hours in a relatively barebones room, with a bed or two, shower, and Wi-Fi.
More traditional hotels built for regular sleeping also exist inside airports, but often offer shorter-term options designed for decompressing during a layover — you just might pay a little extra for the bells and whistles. The Hilton Munich Airport offers a two-hour spa card, and Grand Hyatt DFW and JFK’s midcentury-themed TWA Hotel both offer fixed day-use rates that include access to the pool (starting at $109 in Dallas and around $149 at TWA).
Therapy Dogs Are An Increasingly Common Amenity
Anxious before your flight? Need a little dog cuddle? As of August 2021, dozens of airports in North America had some kind of therapy dog program, whether it was daily dog visitors or a once-a-month treat. One of the biggest operations is the Pets Unstressing Passengers (PUP) program in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which had around 121 dogs participating before the pandemic — most of them rescue dogs, and all of them with appropriate certifications and on-the-job experience. Each dog has a handsome red vest and weekly shift of 1-2 hours, and handlers double as customer service reps that can help you find your way to the correct gate.
Each therapy dog program is as special as its four-legged volunteers. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in Broward County, Florida, has eight “FLL AmbassaDogs” that include a Yorkshire Terrier named Tiffany who rides around in a stroller. At the Edmonton International Airport in Alberta, Canada, pups and handlers wear matching outfits and distribute trading cards. In 2016, the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) added a Juliana pig named LiLou to its “Wag Brigade.”
Some things about weddings just don’t seem to change much — someone always wears white, the couple spends the night before the wedding apart, and there’s almost always cake. But how did that come to be? Here are the backstories on 10 of these surprisingly ancient (and some fairly modern) wedding traditions.
Keeping the Couple Apart Until the Ceremony
While not seeing your spouse-to-be until the ceremony starts is now a romanticized tradition, it once was considered a way to ensure marrying off a daughter happened as planned. Marrying for love is a relatively new concept; prior to the 18th century, marriage was primarily a means of improving a family’s social standing. Brides and grooms were often paired off without giving much of their own input, thanks to their families’ arrangements. Consequently, arranged marriages had a high risk for cold feet — which is why keeping the intendeds apart until they said their vows reduced the chances of one party backing out before they made it to the altar.
“Something Old, Something New”
Most modern brides who follow the “something old” tradition will borrow a family member’s wedding dress or jewelry, but brides of past centuries had no problem wearing someone else’s underwear as a good luck charm. The English rhyme, which reads “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe,” originated some time during the mid-19th century and first appeared in print in 1871. These objects were thought to bring a bride luck for not only her wedding day, but also her chances of becoming pregnant. While “something old” could be almost anything, “something borrowed” was often a pair of bloomers on loan from a woman who had already become a mother.
Wearing a White Wedding Dress
Walk through any bridal shop and it’s obvious that white wedding dresses are the norm, but it wasn’t always so. Historically, brides often repurposed their best dress as their wedding gown, and most were not white — specifically because white was exceptionally difficult to keep clean prior to the advent of modern washing machines and stain removers. Queen Victoria, who wore a lacy white gown at her 1840 wedding in place of the then-popular red, is often credited for popularizing bridal white (though Mary, Queen of Scots wore white during her 1558 Notre Dame wedding, and many lesser-known royals did before Victoria’s reign, too). Within a decade of Victoria’s wedding, dressmakers and etiquette books had run with the idea that white was virginal and pure, with the popular Godey’s Lady’s Book writing that a white dress was “an emblem of the innocence and purity of girlhood, and the unsullied heart which she now yields to the keeping of the chosen one.”
The Purpose of Bridesmaids and Groomsmen
Asking your nearest and dearest to be in your bridal party is one way of honoring friends and family members, though the task once came with a lot more work than just throwing a couple of showers and a bachelor/bachelorette party. For ancient Romans, having a bridal party was a legal means to an end — Roman law required 10 male witnesses to vouch for the couple, while a bride’s female companions would prepare and escort her to the ceremony. In many cultures, bridesmaids acted as incognito bodyguards for a bride; dressing similarly prevented kidnappers and thieves from making off with a bride’s dowry or the bride herself. As for groomsmen? Beyond helping the groom get ready, some of their historical roles included safeguarding the bride, preventing others from intervening in the wedding, or, in the darkest scenarios, kidnapping an unwilling or unwitting woman and forcibly bringing her to the groom.
Objections to a Marriage
While many couples now skip the infamous “speak now or forever hold your peace” line, it was once a standard question to prevent bigamy. During the Middle Ages, Christian churches required upcoming weddings to be announced three Sundays in a row, allowing time for the news to spread. If the bride or groom were already married to someone else, word could get back to the priest — who would ask one last time during the ceremony — to determine if the marriage could proceed.
Handfasting
Handfasting is often a unifying event at a wedding, though it didn’t start out that way. The practice dates to 7000 B.C.E. as part of a Celtic pre-wedding custom. Prospective couples would enter into a handfast ceremony with a priest, who would bind their hands together with a cord or ribbon. Brides and grooms who chose to handfast were considered engaged and had a year to determine if they were a good pair. If they were, couples would plan a wedding; if not, they were free to separate.
Exchanging Wedding Bands
The act of both parties exchanging a wedding ring is fairly modern; historically, men didn’t wear wedding rings. While women have worn engagement and wedding rings for centuries, they were often gifted as a gesture of betrothal (or in the Romans’ case, as a sign that a woman had entered into a marriage contract). During the 1920s, jewelers made an attempt to popularize the men’s engagement ring, which would be picked out and gifted by women, but the cultural norms about masculinity and marriage led to the ad campaign’s demise. It wasn’t until the 1940s that men’s wedding rings became socially acceptable — rings became seen as a romantic link between married couples who were separated during World War II, and post-Depression, couples could more often afford the cost of two rings.
Jumping the Broom
Jumping the broom is now a happier wedding ceremony element, but the tradition in Black communities has a somber history. During American slavery, Black enslaved people were sometimes permitted to exchange vows and wed in small ceremonies, but their marriages were not legally recognized because the law considered them to be property, not people. Jumping the broom — literally jumping over a simple broom that was sometimes placed along the threshold of a couple’s cabin — was an act that enslaved people sometimes performed to signify their union, especially in cases where a slaveowner did not recognize or approve of the marriage. However, historical accounts suggest that not all couples were eager to be wed that way for fear their marriages would be perceived as less meaningful than couples who had formal ceremonies. Now, many Black couples pay homage to their ancestors by choosing to jump the broom into a new life together.
Tossing Celebratory Rice
Showering newlywed couples with grains has its roots in many cultures, with the kinds used differing by region. Ancient Romans thought wheat was the best signifier of fertility, with rice taking up its role throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Lentils, oats, peas, and other grains are also popular alternatives throughout the world. As for the theory that wedding rice is dangerous because it can explode a bird’s stomach at altitude? That’s an urban legend that became popular in the mid-1980s. Even if birds do consume a hefty amount of dried rice, the grains are broken up in their gizzards, making it impossible for their stomachs to expand unnaturally.
Saving Part of the Wedding Cake
The jury’s out on whether or not years-old frozen wedding cake is any good, but the tradition has held on regardless. That’s because saving the top tier of a wedding cake wasn’t necessarily about celebrating a first anniversary, but rather the birth of a first child. The earliest known wedding cakes baked by ancient Romans were made of wheat or barley, while cakes in Medieval England consisted of stacked spiced buns. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that multi-tiered wedding cakes became popular, and wedding etiquette of the time suggested happy couples who were successful at quickly starting a family could save money by using their remaining wedding cake as a christening cake; this became even more prevalent once home refrigerators and freezers became more common in the 1930s and ’40s. Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) followed that advice and served a tier of her wedding cake at Prince Charles’s christening in 1948.
The catalog of social graces is constantly growing and changing to reflect the world we live in. Yet for every self-explanatory etiquette principle (silence your phone at the movies), there’s another seemingly arbitrary one (men should escort women on the left). While these “rules” may seem old-fashioned and are often broken in today’s society, they were once the guidelines for proper manners. We took the courtesy of demystifying six of them.
Why You Should Always Pass the Salt and Pepper
Seasoned etiquette aficionados often express dismay at the way people pass salt and pepper shakers. Regardless of which condiment a dining companion requests, in America, the polite response is to pass both shakers at the same time. This action conveniences everyone at the table. Think of salt and pepper as a pair of spouses or siblings — it becomes less likely that one will go missing if they stay together. Keeping the shakers in tandem also prevents a person from passing the wrong shaker. In addition, there’s a chance the recipient’s neighbor may need both ingredients, which are now within easy reach. Hence a rhyme that invokes two Blue’s Clues characters: “Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper always travel around the table together!” Politeness also dictates that shakers be placed on the table, not into outstretched hands. The thinking is occasionally linked to the superstition that two people grasping a salt shaker will eventually argue.
Why You Should Keep Your Elbows off the Table
In the Old Testament of the Bible, the Book of Ecclesiastes includes the line, “Be ashamed of breaking an oath or a covenant, and of stretching your elbow at dinner.” Many have translated this directive as a warning to keep elbows off the table at all times. Table manners were originally introduced to prevent mealtime fights, with the knife and fork establishing each eater’s boundary lines. Today, the elbow rule stops people from slouching or accidentally leaning their arms into food dishes. Moreover, when breaking bread with a group, placing your elbows on the table blocks those on either side of you from making eye contact.
Why You Shouldn’t Drink When You Are Being Toasted To
If a loved one or co-worker raises a glass in your honor, break the instinct of joining in on the toast. Since you’re being fêted, etiquette experts would perceive lifting your glass as a vain gesture, like giving applause to your own performance. Instead, practice the role of grateful recipient: Refrain from touching your glass and punctuate the toast with a “thank you.” Another common toast faux pas is clinking glasses to make the good tidings official. Knocking drinks with a tableful of people can require awkward stretching, causing spills or even broken glassware. A more dignified solution? Just hold those glasses aloft.
Why You Shouldn’t Point at Another Person
When assisting theme park guests, Disney employees are trained to point with two conjoined fingers, index and middle. While the act reportedly doubles as a nod to Walt Disney’s smoking, the larger explanation is that standard pointing is considered rude in numerous cultures — especially if aimed at another person. A perception that dates back to Shakespeare’s time, pointing brings unwanted attention to the recipient, implying that they’ve committed a wrong. Repeated pointing in Japan can even instigate hostility. Figurative “finger-pointing” is defined as “making explicit and often unfair accusations of blame.” In situations where you feel compelled to point, it is kinder to use an open palm, flight attendant-style.
Why You Shouldn’t Respond to “Thank You” With “No Problem”
There’s a common perception that by answering an expression of gratitude with “no problem,” you’re hinting that the effort exerted was or almost became an inconvenience. (Ditto “no worries,” “don’t mention it,” or “it was nothing.”) “Thank you” neither pleads for forgiveness nor merits a brush-off. “No problem” isn’t necessarily the latter, though. Despite the negative phrasing, it’s generally understood by Gen-Xers and Millennials as an attempt to be humble. In addition, the traditional response to “thank you” is understated in several languages — from Mandarin (mei guanxi or “it’s OK”) to German (keine ursache or “never mind”) — and the advent of texting has made the global vernacular less formal. But at least when speaking, etiquette authorities encourage people to try replies such as “you’re welcome,” “my pleasure,” and “of course.”
Why You Should Open a Car Door With the Hand That’s Furthest Away
Cycling accounts for more than 25% of daily travel in the Netherlands; thus, Dutch citizens tend to be more conscientious toward bike riders than Americans. Yet we can all learn from their example with the “Dutch Reach,” a subtle move for anyone seated on the left-hand side of a car. Upon parking, Dutch drivers are instructed to use their right hands when opening their doors, even though their left hands are closer. This forces individuals to fully turn their upper bodies toward their exit, increasing the probability that they will spot anyone approaching in a bike lane. Some local drivers even tie ribbons to their door handles as reminders, and the Dutch Reach Project employs the slogan, “Reach, Swivel, Look, Open” — good safety advice regardless of your seat placement.
You’ve heard them a million times. You may even know all of the lyrics. But no matter how often you’ve encountered these songs, there’s a good chance you’ve been interpreting them incorrectly. The “hidden” meanings and stories behind these six tunes will make you think twice the next time they cross your path.
“Walk This Way,” Aerosmith (1975)
In late 1974, Aerosmith was messing around during the soundcheck at a show where they were opening for the Guess Who. They managed to land on the iconic guitar riff and drum beat that would eventually become “Walk This Way.” The lyrics, however, took a little longer.
For a while, as they worked on the song, Steven Tyler would just scat nonsensical words — but then Mel Brooks came along. After seeing Brooks’ Young Frankenstein in early 1975, the band members were quoting lines from the movie at each other, including the part where Marty Feldman’s Igor tells Gene Wilder to “walk this way” and Wilder begins to imitate Igor’s hunched steps. Aerosmith’s producer heard the quote and suggested that it could make a great title for the song. Tyler worked his spontaneous scatting into lyrics, and a classic tune was born. When Run DMC covered the tune a decade later, it became a hit all over again — and helped revive Aerosmith’s sagging career.
“Philadelphia Freedom,” Elton John (1975)
With lyrics like “From the day that I was born/I’ve waved the flag/Philadelphia freedom,” and because the song came out just a year before America’s bicentennial, it’s easy to assume that Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom” is about patriotism. In reality, it’s about tennis legend Billie Jean King.
After becoming friends with King in the early ’70s, the British-born John told her that he wanted to write a song in her honor and came up with the idea to name it after her tennis team, The Philadelphia Freedoms. He debuted the rough cut of the song for King and her team during the 1974 playoffs; King immediately fell in love. “He said, during the part where he goes ‘Philadelphia’… ‘That’s you getting upset with an umpire.’ Walking up to the umpire … stomping: ‘PHIL. UH. DEL-phia.’ I was laughing so hard,” she said in an interview with eltonjohn.com.
King knows most people don’t know the song was written for her — and she doesn’t care. “We didn’t want it to be anything about tennis. No, it’s a feeling. It’s a great song for a team. It’s a great song if you’re not a team.”
“Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Bonnie Tyler (1983)
This epic ’80s ballad is certainly a heartbreaker, but the lyrics are just vague enough that it’s not entirely clear what the heartbreak is. In 2002, lyricist Jim Steinman — who was also responsible for Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” (1983) and Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” — came clean about the song’s origins to Playbill. “I actually wrote [“Total Eclipse of the Heart”] to be a vampire love song. Its original title was ‘Vampires in Love’ because I was working on a musical of ‘Nosferatu,’ the other great vampire story. If anyone listens to the lyrics, they’re really like vampire lines. It’s all about the darkness, the power of darkness and love’s place in [the] dark.”
Steinman revived the idea for a musical called Dance of the Vampires that opened on Broadway in December 2002, but despite starring the legendary Michael Crawford (of Phantom of the Opera fame), the brief, 56-performance show was a flop. Costing $600,000 per week to produce, and ultimately producing a loss of $12 million, the New York Times deemed Dance one of the most expensive Broadway flops of all time.
“Sweet Caroline,” Neil Diamond (1969)
The story of “Sweet Caroline” seems to be ever-evolving. For decades after the song first charted in 1969, no one knew who the mysterious Caroline was. Diamond managed to keep his inspiration a secret until 2007, when he played at a very famous 50th birthday party and revealed that the woman of the hour — Caroline Kennedy — had been his muse all of those years ago after he saw a picture of her riding a horse in a magazine.
The claim was a little suspect; Caroline was only nine in the photo, and the song contains some decidedly adult lyrics. But the rest of the story came together in 2014 when Diamond told the Today show that the song itself was about his then-wife, Marsha. Because the two syllables in her name didn’t fit the scheme of the song, the singer racked his brain for a three-syllable substitute that would roll off the tongue. He recalled the famous photo of the young Caroline Kennedy, and that’s when he realized that her name was so good, so good, so good.
“Blackbird,” the Beatles (1968)
The lyrics “Take these broken wings and learn to fly” have inspired many people from many different walks of life in the 50-plus years since Paul McCartney wrote “Blackbird.” But at a concert in 2016, he revealed that he had written the song with a very specific issue in mind: civil rights in the U.S. Although he has mentioned the connection several times over the decades, it was particularly poignant when he talked about his inspiration during a 2016 concert in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Way back in the Sixties, there was a lot of trouble going on over civil rights, particularly in Little Rock,” McCartney said. “We would notice this on the news back in England, so it’s a really important place for us, because to me, this is where civil rights started,” he told the crowd, which included two members of the Little Rock Nine (a group of Black students whose enrollment at a previously all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 drew national attention). “We would see what was going on and sympathize with the people going through those troubles, and it made me want to write a song that, if it ever got back to the people going through those troubles, it might just help them a little bit, and that’s this next one.”
“Sabotage,” the Beastie Boys (1994)
The subject of this 1994 classic with the even more iconic video was a mystery until the Beasties’ memoir was released in 2018. As it turns out, it was their creative response to a producer who was rushing them to finish Ill Communication. While working on their fourth album, the group was having some trouble making decisions about their songs, and producer Mario Caldato was over it. In order to move things along and complete the album, he pushed on tracks that weren’t ready or good enough — much to the Boys’ chagrin. To protest, Ad-Rock penned the famous “I can’t stand it” opening scream with Caldato in mind. “I decided it would be funny to write a song about how Mario was holding us all down, how he was trying to mess it all up, sabotaging our great works of art,” he wrote.
Do black cats fill you with dread? Do you avoid making plans when Friday falls on the 13th? Are you careful around ladders, mirrors, and salt? If so, you’re following some centuries-old ideas about objects and activities that supposedly bring bad luck. But have you ever stopped to wonder why?
In many cases, the origins of these superstitions have multiple layers, meaning they might go back to pagan, Christian, medieval, or Victorian beliefs all at once. In other cases, the story is far more modern than you might think. Read on for some of the strange and surprising stories behind our most common folk beliefs.
Knocking on Wood
In the United States, we say “knock on wood” (in the U.K., it’s “touch wood”) in a variety of situations, like after mentioning something we hope will happen, or while discussing something good that we want to remain in a positive place. It’s a means of averting misfortune, making sure we don’t “tempt fate.” Some explanations for the practice mention a Celtic or otherwise pagan association with tree spirits, the idea being that knocking on wood (particularly once-sacred trees like oak and ash) might awaken these deities and confer their protection. Others note a Christian association with the wood of the cross.
But the origins of this practice are probably much more modern, and banal. In A Dictionary of English Folklore, scholars Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud note that the earliest known reference to the practice only dates to 1805. It seems linked to 19th-century children’s games like “Tiggy Touchwood” — types of tag in which children were safe from capture if they touched something wooden, like a door or tree.
In his book The Lore of the Playground, Roud writes: “Given that the game was concerned with ‘protection,’ and was well known to adults as well as children, it is almost certainly the origin of our modern superstitious practice of saying, ‘Touch wood.’ The claim that the latter goes back to when we believed in tree spirits is complete nonsense.”
Black Cats
In some parts of the world, black cats are considered lucky, but in the U.S. they’ve often been associated with evil. The link goes back to a medieval conception of cats, the devil, and witches as one big happy family. Some sources claimed that Satan’s favorite form to take was a black cat, while witches supposedly either kept cats as familiars or changed into cats themselves. In an age when witches were blamed for just about everything that went wrong, cats — particularly shadowy black cats — were routinely killed.
Sadly, these awful associations were strengthened during the plague outbreaks of the 14th to 17th centuries. The bacteria that causes the plague wasn’t identified until 1894, and without understanding why people were getting sick, villagers doubled down on the idea of cats (and again, especially black cats) as a source of misfortune.
Unfortunately for them, killing cats of any color just helped rats — which carried the type of fleas that spread the plague — proliferate. It would have been far better for their health if European peasants had taken a page from the ancient Egyptians and worshiped their cats instead.
Spilling Salt
Salt is essential to human life and was once an extremely valuable commodity, so much so that the word “salary” derives from it. The crystalline mineral was used in ancient Jewish, Greek, and Roman sacrifices, and it was the primary means of preserving food before refrigeration came along. Over the years, salt became associated with purity, incorruptibility, and sanctity — good for both staving off rot and evil spirits. It stood to reason, then, that spilling salt was bad for both the budget and soul.
During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci strengthened the association between spilled salt and misfortune by depicting Judas with a saltcellar knocked over next to him in his painting “The Last Supper.”
At some point, a belief arose that taking a pinch of salt with the right hand and throwing it over the left shoulder would counteract any bad luck caused by spilling the stuff. The idea comes from an imagined link between the left side and the devil — as well as the idea that Satan just can’t stand salt.
Breaking Mirrors
If you grew up toward the end of the 20th century, you’re almost certainly familiar with the idea that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. Part of this notion is very old: A variety of ancient cultures believed that one’s reflection could steal bits of one’s soul, and so damaging a reflection could damage a person’s spirit. But folklorists have only traced the idea of bad luck from breaking a mirror to 1777, perhaps because of an association between mirrors, magicians, and “diabolical” divination.
So why seven years of bad luck, specifically? That part only dates from the mid-19th century. It’s not clear exactly where the link came from, but it may be a Roman idea that the body replenishes itself every seven years — meaning that was enough time to lift any curse.
Friday the 13th
This superstition marries ideas about both Friday and the number 13 to create what is supposedly the unluckiest day of the calendar. The aura of doom around the number 13 may go back to early civilizations who based their numerical systems on the number 12. (That’s how we got 12-month calendars and days divided into 12-hour segments, for one thing.) Because it came right after 12, 13 was seen as a problematic or strange leftover.
Odd as it may seem, the association is reinforced by two stories of ancient dinner parties. In Norse mythology, evil was introduced into the world when the trickster god Loki showed up as the 13th guest at a dinner in Valhalla. Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, was also the 13th guest to arrive at the Last Supper. That led to a belief, starting around the 17th century, that it was unlucky to have 13 guests at a table. Incidentally (or not), it was also imagined that witches’ covens usually numbered 13.
Friday, meanwhile, was the day Jesus was crucified. By tradition, it was also thought to be the day Eve gave Adam the apple and they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. In Britain, Friday was also Hangman’s Day, when those condemned to die met their fate. Somehow, over the centuries, these ideas combined to give Friday a bad rep — at least until TGIF came along.
Yet it was only the Victorians who combined the ideas around Friday and the number 13 to create the idea of Friday the 13th as being uniquely unlucky. Of course, these days the American horror film franchise may have reinforced the idea.
Walking Under Ladders
Like spilling salt, the superstition against walking under ladders may be partly practical. If you see a ladder, there’s a good chance someone is standing on it, and it would be dangerous for both parties if the ladder were bumped or fell.
But most explanations add a religious dimension. These stem from the shape a ladder makes as it leans against a wall — a triangle, which suggests a trinity. In ancient Egypt, triangles were a sacred shape (think of the pyramids), and they believed that to walk through one was to “break” something sacred to the gods. In Christianity, of course, the trinity is also sacred, and the same idea supposedly applied. Furthermore, a ladder was also said to have rested against Jesus’ crucifix, becoming a symbol of misfortune. There’s also an association with the gallows, where a ladder was often placed so people could climb up to the rope.
However, in A Dictionary of English Folklore, Simpson and Roud once again throw cold water on an ancient basis for this belief. They note that the earliest reference to ladders as unlucky is only about 200 years old, and that most of these older explanations are theories that lack any documented evidence.
Crossing Your Fingers
Crossing the middle finger over the index finger “for luck” is one of the most widely understood gestures in the U.K. and the U.S., even if these days we usually say something like “fingers crossed” rather than perform the action.
It’s said — unsurprisingly — that the gesture is a reference to the cross, and anything associated with the cross is supposed to be good luck (or a form of protection, such as saying a prayer while making the sign of the cross). But it may not be as old as it’s often reported: Folklorists have only found reference to it starting in the early 20th century.
666
This one really is old. In the “Book of Revelation,” there’s a prophecy about a “Great Beast” who will rule the planet and mark his followers with the “number of his name” — 666. Commentators have referred to that “beast” as Satan, or the Antichrist. (Coincidentally, these lines come from the 13th chapter of Revelation, for anyone wanting to stack superstitions.)
But the Book of Revelation was written in a code that often referred to the Roman Empire. Some scholars say the three sixes are a reference to the Roman Emperor Nero’s name as spelled out in Hebrew letters, although it requires a bit of forcing. The supposedly Satanic associations have had surprising staying power, however: Even today, phone numbers with 666 are often rejected or considered a joke.