In Roman numerals, 17 is XVII. If you mix the numerals around, you get VIXI, which is Latin for “I have lived”, ie I am dead. It is an unlucky number in Italy: some Italian planes don’t have ...

Many cultures have lucky and unlucky numbers. For instance, the number 13 is unlucky in Western culture. But in the Chinese culture, it sounds like the word for a long life, so it's lucky.

A Missouri woman considered the number 23 unlucky until she passed on a winning lottery ticket with that number to her husband. GETTY IMAGES Some lottery players fall back on the same lucky ...