The 13 WEIRDEST Friday The 13th Superstitions (PHOTOS)

Today is the lone "Friday the 13th" of 2010.

Friday the 13th happens at least once a year due to the modern calendar. There's only one this year and one next year (May 13, 2011), but watch out: three in 2012 (January, April, July).

When you combine an historically unlucky day (Friday) with an unlucky number (13), all sorts of weirdness is bound to ensue. Hence the obsession with Friday the 13th.

Historically, some very unlucky events were said to have occurred on the day. French King Philip IV rounded up hundreds of monks and tortured them for admitting to heresy on Friday, October 13, 1307. Some say Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday the 13th. More recently, on Friday, March 13, 1992, an earthquake in Turkey killed nearly 2,000 and left 50,000 homeless.

The No. 13 itself has long driven people crazy, in large part due to Friday the 13th. Some people are so obsessed that triskaidekaphobia was born -- the fear of the number 13.

That fear has led the human race to make some strange decisions and exhibit unusual behavior in the past. Here are 13 examples. Vote on the most ridiculous and be extra careful today!

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No room in the inn

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Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

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Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

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this superstition

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Slightly strange Downright weird!

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No. 13 Superstitions

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No. 13 Superstitions

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Comments

[PengieP]

11:53 AM on 08/23/2010

I'm pretty sure that airlines do have a 13th row.

[MagicalPossibilities]

01:13 AM on 08/19/2010

Friday the 13th was a good day for me. I had the day from hell on Monday the 16th.

[synaesthete]

12:49 AM on 08/18/2010

My boyfriend and I live in an apartment building with many Asian residents (I'm Asian, no haters pls), and there is no apartment or floor 4, nor is there apartments 40-49, 14, 24, 34, etc.

[brahdog]

05:24 AM on 08/18/2010

supposedly­, you will never find only 4 wontons in a soup, etc

[tardisrider]

02:53 AM on 08/22/2010

Yes, the reason for this is that while they have no qualms about 13, four is terribly unlucky and associated with death in many parts of Asia. One of the words for four (the other being "yon") in Japanese, "shi", is even a homonym with the word for "death" (as seen in words like "shinigami­" or death-spir­it, similar but not the same as the concept of the Grim Reaper, and "Grim Reaper" I would bet is translated to "shinigami­" in Japanese quite regularly)­. I remember I think learning Japanese and finding the "counting" word for people used "yon" when the pattern should have been for "shi"... I was told, the reason you don't use that, is instead of saying "four people" you would be saying "dead person" or "dead people", because "shinin" means pretty much exactly that. Fear of the number is to the extent that my Japanese language teacher said she knew a girl who refused to use a NYC taxi service because it had a series of four fours in the phone number! The upshot of this is that if you're willing to have a number with the digit in it, in Asia, you can get a discount from many phone service providers. One can only imagine that the cheapest number in Asia is nothing but a series of fours after the area code.

[Janni Pedersen]

05:26 PM on 08/17/2010

Well, poop. I never even thought of the name thing - I actually have 13 letters in my name, and superstiti­on or not, I haven't exactly been the luckiest person! I'm hardly a psychopath­ic killer though. :P Can't say I blame my bad luck on the number of letters in my name OR my parents, though. :D More on poor health. ;)
(And though I am getting a middle name, I doubt that'll make me any luckier, haha. :D )

[ForObamaInDallas]

09:55 PM on 08/16/2010

Charles Manson's middle name is "Milles," ergo, he has more than 13 letters in his name.

Just sayin'.

[VashS5]

04:40 PM on 08/16/2010

My Wife reads Tarot cards and the Death card is not always a bad card.

[Janni Pedersen]

05:34 PM on 08/17/2010

You're absolutely right - it's very rarely a bad card!
Normally, it just signifies that something new will be beginning, or even something coming to an end. Not necessaril­y life or even something bad - for it to actually represent physical and literal death is very, VERY rare. And even when it does in your eyes, someone else may read it differentl­y - even though a tarot card says something will happen, you can still change the outcome they "predict". That's the point, IMO - them giving you a chance to work on the bad stuff! :)

My sister reads tarots too, and sometimes does sessions for me - I get to watch readings for others from time to time too, and I'm slowly learning. It's fascinatin­g, whether you believe in it or not, in my opinion. :)

[wanderingArtist3211]

10:29 AM on 08/16/2010

The Death Card in the Tarot signifies significan­t change, not necessaril­y bad luck. It can be a positive card as well. This was a stupid inclusion.

[ghostrider57]

12:52 AM on 08/18/2010

Isn't the whole number 13 and Friday the 13th superstiti­on pretty silly?

[KIVPossum]

09:24 AM on 08/16/2010

The WeirdEST? Friday the 13th?

How about Some Weird #13 Superstiti­ons?

[Vurz]

12:52 AM on 08/16/2010

Charles Manson's middle name is Milles, which means his name has 19 letters.

[ForObamaInDallas]

10:00 PM on 08/16/2010

You beat me to the punch on this one. :) Posted before I saw yours.

[Gorsegrower]

07:27 PM on 08/15/2010

The hangman's noose is a single knot.

[dylbud]

06:47 PM on 08/15/2010

These are just plain old "13" superstiti­ons -- not "Friday the 13th" superstiti­ons.

Not one of the pictures had anything to do with that particular­ly unlucky instance of the number 13 -- when it happens to fall on a Friday.

[awarg]

05:34 PM on 08/15/2010

The Jersey Devil is my favorite number 13 story! According to legend, Mrs. Shrouds of Leed's Point, NJ, had 12 children and if she ever bscame preganant again, she hoped it woiuld be the devil! She soon got her wish- the child was born with a long tail and hooved feet. It's arms turned into wings and the child flew away, but would retun to see it's mother.Fol­klore of the NJ Pine Barrons! Another story comes from Burlington­, NJ. A witch, who had 12 children, was impregnate­d by the devil! #13 looked just it's father and stayed in the area until it was exorcised 100 yrs. after it's birth.

[AERO]

07:04 PM on 08/15/2010

And so began the Bush political dynasty.

[awarg]

07:12 PM on 08/15/2010

Damn the exorcism didn't take!

[ForObamaInDallas]

10:01 PM on 08/16/2010

LOL!

[Guy Underbridge]

05:15 PM on 08/15/2010

FAIL - The number 13 has been extracted 103 times in 'SuperEnal­otto' since it's inception in 1997

[ladyvader]

01:53 PM on 08/15/2010

The rider in the Tour de France that has the bib number 13 usually put it on upside down.

[getoffmedz]

11:14 AM on 08/15/2010

How about the 13 year-old boy struck by lighting at 13:13 on Friday the 13th?

Really.