Belief in luck is probably as old as humanity itself – and despite living in a more scientific age, many of us still hold these beliefs for the same reasons our forebears did. Luck helps us make sense of a world that often seems chaotic and random – and gives us reason to hope when the odds are stacked against us.

With that in mind, we wanted to take a look at where these superstitions come from, visualising them into the graphic you see below.