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Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D.

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13 Intriguing Friday the 13th Factoids!

Posted: 01/12/12 01:25 PM ET

-- The fear of Friday is skeviphobia, the fear of the number 13 is triskaidekaphobia, and the fear of Friday the 13th is paraskevidekatriaphobia (aka friggatriskaidekaphobia).

-- While both Friday(because Judas was thought to have been the 13th guest at the Last Supper) and 13(because it is an uneven number following the even number 12 widely considered beneficial) had independently been considered unlucky for centuries, the dark nature of Friday The 13th appears to have only originated in the West in the 19th century, possibly with Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini wherein the date is termed unlucky!

-- Apollo 13, which barely escaped becoming a doomed flight, was launched on 13:13 CST, April 11,1970, with the explosion that disabled the craft occurring on April 13(a Monday).

-- In Spanish-speaking nations, Tuesday The 13th is regarded as unlucky!

-- Oklahoma bandit Crawford "Cherokee Bill" Goldsby murdered 13 victims, and was captured with a reward of $1300, At his trial, 13 eyewitnesses testified against him, the jury took 13 hours to render a verdict of guilty, and he was hanged on April 13,1896 on a gallows with 13 steps!

-- President Franklin Delano Roosevelt would never host a dinner party with 13 guests in attendance and refused to travel on the 13th day of any month!

-- Cuban leader Fidel Castro was born on Friday, August 13,1926, while celebrated outlaw Butch Cassidy was born on. Friday, April 13,1866!

-- Miami Dolphin Quarterback Dan Marino wore No. 13 throughout his distinguished football career. In his one and only trip to the Super Bowl(1985), the San Francisco 49ers clobbered his team, 38-16!

-- The majority of skyscrapers in America do not have a 13th floor, while some hospitals avoid rooms numbered 13, and a few airline terminals bypass gates numbered 13!

-- Every calendar year has at least one Friday The 13th. The most Fridays The 13th that can occur in any given calendar year is three, such as in 2012(January, April and July)!

-- The longest period that can occur without a Friday The 13th is 14 months, either from July through September of the following normal year, or from August through October of the following leap year!

-- In the 1960 cinematic thriller, 13 Ghosts, director William Castle, known for creating innovative PR gimmicks, introduced "Illusion-O" and offered audience members "ghost viewers" to enable them to see the invisible spirits(unfortunately, his on-camera appearance is often deleted from TV airings of the film).

-- On Friday April 13, 2029, the asteroid 99942 will make its closest encounter with the Earth!

Here are 2 Friday The 13th related video links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2RZn9CV_9s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwnCZO7vr88

 

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07:53 AM on 01/30/2012
I'm sure FDR didn't hold dinner parties with 13 guests; no one with breeding would. You ALWAYS had an even number of guests at table; the entire idea was to have an equal number of conversation partners. You spoke to the person on your left during the first part of the meal, the person on your right during the second portion, and the person across from you at dessert (although the order of exchanges varied from area to area.)
07:37 PM on 01/15/2012
I also was born on a friday the 13th, as was my mother, and two other persons in my immeadiate family. March the 13th, 1953, So, thats's 03-13-1953, at 1:13PM, So, in militatry time that works out to 13:13 Hours... So all you numeric type buffs, go nuts on that one !!! I would like a full numismatatic analysis of that numeric combination on my desk by 13:13 Tueday, January the 17th Please !!! (Email works too !!!)

Seriously, all of the above is correct and true, but I have never had anything of any significance happen on any Friday the 13th except the fact that I keep getting older, and older, and older with each passing one.

But, some of my more trusted friends, have jidded me on my birthday, telling me that 13-13-1953 may have been a great day for me..... But woe unto humanity !!! For behold, the anti-Christ, the re-encarnated high general of the Knights Templar is born !!!!! LOL !!!

Just kidding Guys N Galz !!! Other than the fact that a Friday the 13th was my birthday, it has never been of any real other significance in my life at all...

Balderdash and Poppy-Cock !!!

And 13 Bah-Humbugs to-boot !!!
10:23 PM on 01/13/2012
23 = 13 + 10
07:40 PM on 01/13/2012
There are 13 moons in a year. The number 13 is the sacred number of the Goddess, and Freya/Frigga is the Norse Goddess of love and beauty and Friday is her day. So Friday 13 is especially a good day for love and to be beautiful. A figure of great wisdom and responsibility, she is world wide acknowledged the Mother Goddess and peace maker, called the fripwebba, the Weaver of Peace.

Jesus was the 13th person at the Last Supper, as the other 12 were disciples. As the patriarchy rose out of the 'dark past' into power, the aspects of the Goddess were denigrated and the number 13 was thrown under a cloud of fear and bad luck.
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Bogey907
Mongo only pawn... in game of life
02:55 PM on 01/13/2012
Aauugghh! I have hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia! (fear of long words)
09:35 PM on 01/13/2012
Freyja had a twin called Frey.Frey was god of poem and light and the light elves.Freyja had a chariot drawn by two large cats.She had a necklace called Brisingingem.It was made by dwarves,but also cursed by them.She lost it along with her beloved daughter which she searched the world over and during that time, autumn came to be,followed by snow.Spring came when she found her daughter again,but not her necklace.One time lover of Odin.She was a Vanir,a rival tribe of gods to the Aesir.When they made peace,her and her brother became Odin's hostages,then wards.I know I am digressing. Thanks for sharing Elizabeth.
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YouTubeJEFF9K
Big on the Big Picture.
02:36 PM on 01/13/2012
The word "factoid" as it is used today, doesn't make sense. The suffix "oid" means resembling, so a factoid would be something that appears to be a fact, but isn't.
02:29 PM on 01/13/2012
A "factoid" isn't a small fact, it's unsubstantiated or unproven. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/factoid
02:09 PM on 01/13/2012
Superstition will be the demise of our country (and the world). Plant the seed in people's heads and they'll make damn sure it happens — they they can say, "I told you so". Everyday of the week on any given date is unlucky for someone.

Please, let's restore some reason into society — it's our only hope.
01:33 PM on 01/13/2012
I believe it is lucky to stand on one leg (your left) while reciting the night before Christmas and shaking a salt shaker filled with sand over first your right shoulder, then your left, at the end of each line. I tried that once and found a satchel with a million dollars in it. You should all try it.
01:10 PM on 01/13/2012
DeMolay Day
11:26 AM on 01/13/2012
Friday the 13th. originates with the Knights Templar and the Pope. Simple research will avail much.
01:20 PM on 01/13/2012
I'm sure that you mean the belief that Friday the 13th is somehow significant originates with them. The 13th of a month falling on a Friday dates back to, well, the beginning of the use of the word "Friday" and months with more than 12 days.
03:30 PM on 01/13/2012
Well, no.... King Phillip "the Fair" of France and the Pope; Pope Clement V, conspired to rid the Templars of vast wealth and power in 1307, on a Friday, October 13th. While various notions of the number 13 being unlucky predate this; the date above sunk the "Friday" in the "13" in the western European vocabulary. The Templars and other Monastic knights coming from the Crusades brought with them many wondrous items and stories; in fact the arrival of many mid eastern cultures and customs, with their technological and scientific superiority brought Europe out of the "Dark Ages". The power and wealth of the Templars became a threat to both the Catholic Church and the rather rocky relationship between England and France. The Pope and King Phillip saw an opportunity to gain wealth and power, while opposing England....
11:11 AM on 01/13/2012
Maybe this will be lucky -- 11:11 on Friday the 13th! Lol!
12:02 PM on 01/13/2012
What about 13:13 (which, in the US, is 1:13 PM)? What kind of panic are people going to be thrown into next year (unless, of course, the Mayans are right).
10:53 AM on 01/13/2012
Friday the 13th!!
10:12 AM on 01/13/2012
I have always believed that the number 13 was lucky [along with the number 7] and that Friday the 13th was lucky. But either way it is just superstition.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
invisbl
same as it ever was
02:46 PM on 01/13/2012
I always liked 13... but I was born on a 13th so I'm biased :)