Four rounds on what people have believed and when it was first written down, with trivia questions about luck, lucky numbers, the calendar of Friday the 13th and the missing thirteenth floor.
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Number 13 trivia questions
Two rounds are about one number. Friday the 13th and the calendar is arithmetic as much as folklore: the longest gap between two, the average wait in days, and the day Italy fears instead. Thirteen at the table, on the door and in orbit has the Thirteen Club, the tarot card and a space shuttle patch.
Bad luck trivia questions and answers
Luck: charms, sayings and numbers asks about the mirror, the rabbit's foot, the salt and the lucky numbers of China and France. The questions describe beliefs; none says a belief is true. Tap a choice to check it; the reason and the article it was read in appear with the answer.
Tips
The word, the phobias and the scholars is the hard round: Latin, Greek and one very long word.
Questions and answers
What are some easy superstition trivia questions?
How many years of bad luck follow a broken mirror? What is thrown over the shoulder after a spill? Which animal was on the joke patch of the shuttle mission first numbered STS-13? The answers are seven, salt and a black cat.
What is the fear of the number 13 called?
Triskaidekaphobia, from the Ancient Greek words for thirteen and fear. The term was used as early as 1910. Fear of Friday the 13th has a longer name still, paraskevidekatriaphobia.
How many Friday the 13ths can there be in a year?
At least one and no more than three. A year has three when it is a common year starting on a Thursday, or a leap year starting on a Sunday.
Why is Friday the 13th unlucky?
The origins remain murky. Friday and the number 13 were each thought unlucky, but there is no record of the two being called especially unlucky together before the 19th century.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 3, 2026 in the English Wikipedia article the question links: Superstition, Friday the 13th or Triskaidekaphobia. What religions teach, accident figures and sports shirt numbers are left out.
A 1979 book sorts superstitions into magic, divination and which third category?Answer: Observances. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Fear of which number is called hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia?Answer: 666. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
In its earliest known uses as a Latin noun, in Plautus and Ennius, what did superstitio mean?Answer: The art of divination. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear or avoidance of which number?Answer: 13. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
What is the effect called that has been used to explain superstitious behavior, after animals kept responding without a reward?Answer: The partial reinforcement effect. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Which Greek word is the equivalent of the Latin superstitio?Answer: Deisidaimonia. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Which king, who lived from 1194 to 1250, was the first to outlaw trials by ordeal explicitly?Answer: Frederick II. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Which of these is a name for the fear of Friday the 13th?Answer: Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
Who used the term triskaidekaphobia as early as 1910, in a book on abnormal psychology?Answer: Isador Coriat. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
Luck: charms, sayings and numbers 10
According to the superstition, breaking a mirror brings how many years of bad luck?Answer: Seven. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Among common Western superstitions, what should not be opened indoors?Answer: An umbrella. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Before the First World War, in which country was 13 a lucky number that appeared on postcards and charms?Answer: France. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
During which period was it common for people to carry a rabbit's foot around with them?Answer: The Great Depression. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
In Cantonese-speaking areas 13 is lucky because it sounds like words meaning what?Answer: Sure to live. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
In China, what is believed to bring luck when it is worn?Answer: Certain colors. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
In the West, what is thrown over the shoulder after a spill?Answer: Salt. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
In which country was "Break a leg" likely first used as a good-luck wish, in the 1930s or possibly the 1920s?Answer: The United States. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
In which setting is "Break a leg" said to wish someone good luck?Answer: The theater. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Which number is a lucky number in China, more common than any other in the housing market there?Answer: 8. Source: Wikipedia: Superstition
Friday the 13th and the calendar 11
The 13th of the month is very slightly more likely to fall on which day than on any other?Answer: Friday. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
A Tuesday the 13th falls in months that begin on which day?Answer: Thursday. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
Before which century is there no record of Friday and the number 13 being called especially unlucky together?Answer: The 19th century. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
Can a calendar year pass without a single Friday the 13th?Answer: No, every year has at least one. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
How many days are in each 400-year cycle of the Gregorian calendar?Answer: 146,097. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
In a common year that starts on a Thursday, which three months have a Friday the 13th?Answer: February, March and November. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
In a novel of 1907, a broker uses the superstition to start a panic where?Answer: On Wall Street. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
In Italian popular culture, which day is the unlucky one?Answer: Friday the 17th. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
On average, a Friday the 13th comes once in every how many days?Answer: 212.35. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
What is the longest stretch that can pass between two Friday the 13ths?Answer: 14 months. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
Which country holds its National Accident Day on a Friday the 13th?Answer: Finland. Source: Wikipedia: Friday the 13th
Thirteen at the table, on the door and in orbit 12
The crew of the Space Shuttle mission first numbered STS-13 made a joke mission patch. Which animal was on it?Answer: A black cat. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
Fleet Street, Park Lane, Oxford Street and Haymarket are all said to lack a number 13. In which city are they?Answer: London. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
In 1881 a group of New Yorkers formed a dinner club to put an end to the superstition. What did they call it?Answer: The Thirteen Club. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
In 2012 the motor industry of which country worried that a 13 on new registration plates would put buyers off?Answer: Ireland. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
In a 2007 poll, what share of American adults said a hotel room on the thirteenth floor would bother them?Answer: 13 percent. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
In several variants of the tarot, which trump card is numbered 13?Answer: Death. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
New York critics warned the builders of early skyscrapers not to go above the 13th floor. About how high is that?Answer: 130 feet. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
On the elevator button for a thirteenth floor, the letter M can stand for mezzanine or for which other kind of level?Answer: Mechanical. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
Since at least which year has the superstition of thirteen at a table been documented?Answer: 1774. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
The Space Shuttle mission first numbered STS-13 landed in 1984 on what kind of date?Answer: A Friday the 13th. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
Tarot card games are attested since about 1450 with which pack?Answer: The Visconti-Sforza Tarot. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
To keep the other numbers consistent, which label is sometimes given to a thirteenth floor?Answer: 12A. Source: Wikipedia: Triskaidekaphobia
How this list was compiled
Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Questions and wrong choices are our own. Each explanation restates, in our own sentences, a fact from the English Wikipedia article named and linked beside the question (https://en.wikipedia.org, text under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license): Superstition, Friday the 13th and Triskaidekaphobia. The text of each article was fetched on October 2, 2026, and on October 3, 2026 the passage that states each fact was read in it before the question was kept. Superstitions are described, never endorsed: a question asks what a belief says, where it is held or when it was first written down. Left out on purpose: what any religion teaches about superstition, the Last Supper story, accidents and their tolls, estimates of money lost, sports players and their shirt numbers, hotels and makers named in the articles, and films, shows and games. Levels are our estimate: easy is fair for any table, medium suits people who know the subject, hard will stump most tables. Each question also carries the date its article was read (checkedOn). Licence: own work