ADVERTISEMENT

There are many ways one can avoid bad luck. You should always knock on wood, if you spill salt, throw it over your shoulder, and avoid ladders and black cats at all costs. You are also better off staying at home on Friday the 13th and while you’re there, do not open an umbrella, put shoes on a table, or go near any mirrors in the house. According to lore, that, plus a lucky penny and an evil eye amulet, should save you from any misfortune. 

Unfortunately, the people on this list must have done all of those on the same day as they could not avoid their unlucky fate. Luckily for us, someone captured their calamities and shared them on the “Images that are unfortunate events” Facebook group so we can all have a good chuckle. And, also, feel better about our days. After all, life seems pretty good when you look at these images, right?


But what’s up with all these superstitions? Why are we afraid of black cats and not red or blue ones? Unsurprisingly, it all somehow ends up being related to religion. You see, back in the day, cats were considered divine symbols by Egyptians. They would also appear in Greek mythology alongside Hecate, the goddess of magic, sorcery, the moon, and witchcraft.

In other words, pagans loved them. And what pagans loved was a big no-no to the Christian church. Add to the fact that cats tend to be independent and not listen to authority, which is another thing the Christian church hates, and everything starts falling into place.

RELATED:
    #2

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Mabelbabel
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    1st place is "Essence of Dog." Its what you get when you take away all the non-essentials and are left with basic Dogginess, which is a goofy smile.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu

    Suddenly, the fact that in the 13th century, the church declared that black cats were incarnations of Satan is not that surprising. You also start to understand why people would want to avoid them—whether they were scared of the evil spirits or the possible persecution.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Supposedly, another superstition that was born out of Christians wanting to oppose pagans at all costs was the number 13. The thing is that, for ages, this number was related to the menstrual cycle and feminine power. It was believed to be connected to goddesses of fertility, love, and motherhood. 

    #6

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    NapQueen
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Love it when people have photos of themselves like this on dating apps!!

    Clarf
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If I saw this on a dating app, I'd absolutely want to connect with him. This is my kind of person!

    María Hermida
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The good thing is, if this happened early in the morning you know your day can only get better!

    Load More Replies...
    Arenwy
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Why would you take a picture of someone in this situation?!

    Fat Harry
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think we have to assume it's a still from a video. I guess he was walking and talking and tripped so they took a frame from the video to use as a photo.

    Load More Replies...
    Danish Susanne
    Community Member
    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I so hope that coffee was no longer scalding hot. Just last week a kid in my school spilled some hot tea down herself and got a nasty burn and a blister through her clothes.

    Oddly Me
    Community Member
    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What is he advertising? Great candidate to sell life insurance to?

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu

    Women's empowerment, though, wasn’t really a Christian thing. So, wanting to get rid of all that nonsense, they labeled the goddesses witches and made sure that the number was associated with the evil spirits. This was all turned around in the 21st century, of course, when Taylor Swift swooped in and gave the feminine power back to the number 13.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #8

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Hippopotamuses
    Community Member
    12 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I shouldn't laugh, but I can't stop. He makes me think of Wile E. Coyote.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Surprisingly or not, walking under a ladder is also related to religion. You see, when a ladder is propped up against the wall, the space underneath makes a triangle. In Christian faith, a triangle represents the holy trinity. So, walking through it means “disrupting” it, which was considered blasphemous.

    Egyptians, apparently, were also not so stoked about walking under ladders. That is because they would leave them in tombs for the dead to be able to climb to the afterlife. The space under the ladder, though, was thought to be the home of all sorts of good and bad spirits. Walking through that space would disturb and anger them, which it was believed would lead to really bad consequences.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #13

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    liam newton-harding
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I’ll just put this fire, with the other fire…0118..999..881..999..119..725…..3.

    View more commentsArrow down menu

    Weirdly enough, Egyptians might be the reason for why some consider opening an umbrella inside an unlucky thing to do. See, Egyptians used to use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, and they believed that using one inside would anger the sun deity Ra. Umbrellas were also a luxury reserved for royalty only, so if you are not of noble blood, stepping into the shade provided by an umbrella was simply a sacrilegious thing to do.

    #17

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Nina
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Excellent timing on the photograph, took me a few secs to see it

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #18

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Nick (He/Him)
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The whole dumping gatorade thing is dumb IMO. Big waste of perfectly good sports drink.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu

    Still, it’s very unlikely that such a minor superstition managed to survive such a long time. So, it is more likely that we avoid opening up umbrellas inside simply because it used to be quite a complicated contraption. Opening it up in a tight space could lead to injuries or broken items, so it was best to avoid it.

    #19

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Peppy
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That tiger in the cage is thinking “ so that’s how you get out of here “

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu

    All in all, superstitions might be a silly thing. They seem to be based in people’s need to control others and there’s really no proof out there that they work at all. So, feel free to ditch them! Unfortunately, that will not save you from bad luck and you might still end up on a list like this one in the future. But, you never know, it might help!

    ADVERTISEMENT
    #26

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And this is why they tell you to keep your hair tied up in shop class. Sorry bro, but that was really dumb. Same reason I yell at my co-workers for wearing wedding rings when they're running the machines. You ever seen a finger get ripped off?

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #29

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Danny Trejo
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    depending on where you look at this picture, you can experience four different moods XD

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #35

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Crowthistle
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nevermind the cheese, what is that brown gunk in with the clean washing??

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #43

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Firstname Lastname
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There's a "why did the chicken *not* cross the road" joke somewhere in this picture.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #48

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Floeckchen
    Community Member
    12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's where you should draw a wheelchair up the stairs to not damage the tiles

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #50

    Unfortunate-Events-Pics

    unfortunateimagery Report

    Note: this post originally had 84 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.