Friday The 13th: History, Trivia, and Everything Else You Need To Know

Happy Friday The 13th everyone! Turns out, there is plenty of good news to be had on this supposedly "unlucky" day.

According to the AP, Friday the Thirteenth is not actually unlucky at all:

Unlucky for some? Dutch statisticians have established that Friday 13th, a date regarded in many countries as inauspicious, is actually safer than an average Friday.

A study published on Thursday by the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) showed that fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays.

For those of you whose fears are not assuaged by this fact, you're in luck (pun intended!) - today is the one and only Friday the 13th of the year!

And in case you didn't know, the fear you are suffering from has a name. It's Paraskevidekatriaphobia. It's what happens when a fear of Fridays meets a fear of the number Thirteen (Triskaidekaphobia).

Did you know that paraskavedekatriaphobia, according to Fox News, can be traced back to "October 1307, when on Friday the 13th, French King Philip IV rounded up hundreds of monks and tortured them into admitting a variety of heresies."

And while the Dutch study may say that Friday the 13th just got a bum rap, there's been more than a few unfortunate occurrences that happened on this infamous day. According to Hauntedbay.com, here are a few examples of the sordidhistory of Friday the 13th:

- July 1951: The Great Flood killed 24 people, destroyed more than 2 million acres of land in Kansas and caused $760 million in damage.

- March 1964: The "Good Friday" earthquake wasn't actually so good. It remains the largest earthquake in North American history, killing 131 people near Prince William Sound.

- July 1987: An F4 tornado ripped through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and injuring at least 300.

- March 1992: An earthquake killed nearly 2,000 people and left 50,000 homeless in Turkey.

And that's not all. Here a couple scary, yet scintillating facts about Friday the Thirteenth:

- In a traditional hangman's noose there are 13 twists of the rope and 13 steps to the gallows.

- Many buildings don't count their 13th floors. You'll see on their elevators that the numbers skip from 12 to 14.

- There is no 13th Avenue in San Francisco, instead Funston Avenue is between 12th and 14th Avenues.

- In Formula 1 racing, there is no car with the number 13. The number has been removed after two drivers were killed in crashes, both driving cars numbered 13.

- Killers Charles Manson, Saddam Hussein, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Theodore Bundy, and Jack The Ripper each have 13 letters in their names.

And lastly, these people weren't so lucky on Friday the 13th:

- Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas on a Friday the 13th.

- Al Capone was sentenced to prison on a Friday the 13th.

- Benny Goodman, the King of Swing, died on a Friday the 13th.

- Hubert Humphrey, the 38th vice president of the United States, died on a Friday the 13th.

So, are you scared of Friday the Thirteenth? How do you handle your fears? Or, alternately, do you think this is all just a bunch of hogwash? Tell us below!

Comments

[Leper]

01:08 AM on 06/16/2008

>>Al Capone was sentenced to prison on a Friday the 13th.

And why was that a _bad_ thing?

[GBartrem]

11:57 PM on 06/13/2008

Al Capone was sentenced to prison on a Friday the 13th.

- Benny Goodman, the King of Swing, died on a Friday the 13th.

- Hubert Humphrey, the 38th president of the United States, died on a Friday the 13th.

OK wait a freaking Minute! does anyone here at HuFF PO fact check this stuff?
Mr Humphrey was not a President....... he was Linden Johnson's Vice President.....
I know it's a small faupaw but come on now!

[kulenski]

11:51 PM on 06/13/2008

I don't know why that on Friday the 13th, I always seem to have a kick ass time.

It's a holiday to me because greats things happen!!!

[expatwing]

07:31 PM on 06/13/2008

Here's another one - on Friday June 13, 1997 (11 years ago today), Vladimir Konstantinov, member of the Detroit Red Wings was in an automobile accident that left him in a coma and severely injured - one week after the Wings won their first Stanley Cup in 42 yrs.

Here's hoping that they're all driving safely today as they're celebrating another win!!

[ThermoChemist]

03:18 PM on 06/13/2008

Other bad luck references:
- Apollo 13 lunar mission, which left the launching pad at 13 minutes after 1 pm, or 13:13 in military time, and returned to earth on the 13th of April because of problems.
- It's said that in the Western world, 13 became unlucky after the Last Supper, where 13 broke bread together, resulting in Jesus' crucifixion on Friday the 13th.
- The US military avoids numbering new models of planes with 13; the American fighter plane the YF-12 was followed by the F-14!

Miscellany:
- In Jewish mysticism, 13 is lucky as it reveals the magical ability to transcend the influences of the cosmos (12 signs of the Zodiac), making it the sign of someone truly extraordinary.
- Ancient - Egyptians viewed 13 as the number of transformation, the spiritual ascension.
- The legion with which Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon was the Legio XIII Gemina or the 13th legion.
- The Code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws created ca. 1760 BC, does not contain a thirteenth law.

13 and America:
-There were 13 original colonies; 13 stripes on the U.S. flag.
-There are 13 stars above the eagle and on the eagle's shield on the one dollar bill
-There are 13 steps on the pyramid on the one dollar bill
-There are 13 olive branches, 13 arrows on the one dollar bill

[watchingthings]

02:23 AM on 06/14/2008

....and a bakers dozen has 13 items......eat all 13 [...say donuts] once a week and watch the weight pile on.

[DeeLuzon]

01:22 PM on 06/13/2008

Hubert Humphrey, the 38th president of the United States, died on a Friday the 13th.

and was so unlucky that his entire presidency was then forgotten by everyone

[ChiGuy]

10:55 PM on 06/13/2008

LOL!! I gave that a double-take!
My reaction: HUH???