The 16th Arrondissement 🏙️: A Firm Refusal to be #13 in 1860 😱

Back in 1860, when Paris was organizing its 20 arrondissements, the initial numbering followed a left-to-right system, and guess what?

The current 16th arrondissement was supposed to be #13! 🎲 But the residents of this area (once the commune of Passy) weren’t having it! 🚫

Why?

Well, superstition probably had a hand in it — after all, 13 is considered unlucky! 🍀

But there was another reason, a bit more old-school: back when Paris had only 12 arrondissements, saying "marry in the 13th" was slang for living together without marriage (because, you guessed it, there was no actual 13th arrondissement). 😳

Back in the more puritanical days, this was considered a scandal! 😱

So, after some good ol' protests, the number 13 was scrapped and the numbering system was restructured into a spiral pattern — no unlucky numbers allowed! 🌀