Some people are afraid of spiders. Others are afraid of heights, snakes, or dogs. Some are afraid of flying.

Composer Arnold Schoenberg was afraid of the number 13.

Triskaidekaphobia, as it is called, is actually quite a common fear, with roots in mythology. It's the reason why many buildings don't have the 13th floor... Quite silly, if you ask us.

But it wasn't silly for Schoenberg. He even changed the song title of "Moses und Aaron" to "Moses und Aron", because the former contained 13 letters.

And then, as he got older, it got worse. An astrologer told Schoenberg to watch out not just for 13, but for numbers whose digits add up to 13... Such as 76, his age in 1951. The composer got so obsessed with the number that it led to depression... and death. On July 13th. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Perhaps he should have been afraid of coincidences...