Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition.
History
According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.
[1][2][3] The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in
Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of
Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th.
He [Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that one Friday 13th of November he died.[4]
Several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.
One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that
thirteenis an unlucky number and that
Friday is an unlucky day.
- In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, twelve signs of the Zodiac, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
- Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales,[5] and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects.
- One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth,[6] in which an unscrupulousbroker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.[1]
- Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and in John J. Robinson's 1989 work Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. On Friday, 13 October 1307, hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France, an action apparently motivated financially and undertaken by the efficient royal bureaucracy to increase the prestige of the crown. Philip IV was the force behind this ruthless move, but it has also tarnished the historical reputation of Clement V. From the very day of Clement V's coronation, the king falsely charged the Templars with heresy, immorality and abuses, and the scruples of the Pope were compromised by a growing sense that the burgeoning French State might not wait for the Church, but would proceed independently. [7] However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention.[5][8][9]
[edit]Phobia names and etymology
The fear of Friday the 13th has been called
friggatriskaidekaphobia (
Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named and
triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or
paraskevidekatriaphobia[10][11] a concatenation of the
Greekwords
Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning "Friday"), and
dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning "thirteen") attached to
phobía (φοβία, from phóbos, φόβος, meaning "fear"). The latter word was derived in 1911
[citation needed] and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.
[12]
[edit]Tuesday the 13th
In Spanish-speaking countries, instead of Friday, Tuesday the 13th (
martes trece) is considered a day of bad luck.
[13]
The Greeks also consider Tuesday (and especially the 13th) to be an unlucky day. Tuesday is considered to be dominated by the influence of Ares (Mars), the god of war. A connection can be seen in the etymology of the name in some European languages (Mardi in French or martes in Spanish). The
Fall of Constantinople to the
Ottomans happened on Tuesday, May 29, 1453, fact that strengthens the superstition about Tuesday. In addition, in
Greek the name of the day is
Triti (
Τρίτη) meaning literally the third (day of the week), adding weight to the superstition, since bad luck is said to "come in threes".
[edit]Friday the 17th
In Italian popular culture, Friday the 17th (and not the 13th) is considered a day of bad luck.
[14] In fact, in Italy, 13 is generally considered a lucky number.
[15] However, due to Anglo-Saxon influence, young people consider Friday the 13th to be unlucky as well.
[16]
[edit]Social impact
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in
Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the
United States are affected by a fear of this day making it the most feared day and date in history. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. "It's been estimated that
[US]$800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day".
[2] Despite this, representatives for both
Delta Air Lines and
Continental Airlines say that their airlines do not suffer from any noticeable drop in travel on those Fridays.
[17]
[edit]Rate of accidents
The
Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) on June 12, 2008, stated that "fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home. Statistically speaking, driving is slightly safer on Friday the 13th, at least in the
Netherlands; in the last two years, Dutch insurers received reports of an average 7,800 traffic accidents each Friday; but the average figure when the 13th fell on a Friday was just 7,500."
[18][19]
[edit]Occurrence
The following months have a Friday the 13th:
| Month | Years | Dominical
letter |
|---|
| January | 1978, 1984, 1989, 1995, 2006, 2012, 2017, 2023 | A, AG |
| February | 1976, 1981, 1987, 1998, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2026 | D, DC |
| March | 1981, 1987, 1992, 1998, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026 | D, ED |
| April | 1973, 1979, 1984, 1990, 2001, 2007, 2012, 2018 | G, AG |
| May | 1977, 1983, 1988, 1994, 2005, 2011, 2016, 2022 | B, CB |
| June | 1975, 1980, 1986, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2014, 2025 | E, FE |
| July | 1973, 1979, 1984, 1990, 2001, 2007, 2012, 2018 | G, AG |
| August | 1976, 1982, 1993, 1999, 2004, 2010, 2021, 2027 | C, DC |
| September | 1974, 1985, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2013, 2019, 2024 | F, GF |
| October | 1978, 1989, 1995, 2000, 2006, 2017, 2023, 2028 | A, BA |
| November | 1981, 1987, 1992, 1998, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026 | D, ED |
| December | 1974, 1985, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2013, 2019, 2024 | F, GF |
This sequence given here for 2001–2028, follows a 28-year cycle from March 1, 1900 to February 28, 2100. The months with a Friday the 13th are determined by the
Dominical letter (G, F, GF, etc.) of the year. Every month that begins on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th, and there is at least one Friday the 13th in every calendar year.
The longest period that can occur without a Friday the 13th is fourteen months, either from July to September the following common year (e.g. between 2001–02, 2012–13, and 2018–19), or from August to October the following leap year (e.g. between 1999–2000 or 2027–28).
Friday the 13th can occur as many as three times in a single year; either in February, March and November in an ordinary year (such as 2009), or January, April and July in leap years (such as 2012).
Patterns for common years:
Each Gregorian 400-year cycle contains 146,097 days (365 × 400 = 146,000 normal days, plus 97 leap days). 146,097 ÷ 7 = 20,871 weeks. Thus, each cycle contains the same pattern of days of the week (and thus the same pattern of Fridays that are on the 13th). The 13th day of the month is slightly more likely to be a Friday than any other day of the week. [20] On average, there is a Friday the 13th once every 212.35 days (compared to Thursday the 13th, which occurs only once every 213.59 days).
The distribution of the 13th day over the 4,800 months is as follows:
| Day of the week | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|
| Number of occurrences | 687 | 685 | 685 | 687 | 684 | 688 | 684 |
|---|
[edit]Events on Fridays the 13th
Some events are intentionally scheduled for Fridays the 13th for dramatic effect. They include:
- Bike Rally in Port Dover, Ontario. Takes place every Friday the 13th. The Friday the 13th tradition started in 1981. Chris Simons, a local bike shop owner, and approximately 25 friends, through word of mouth, got together at the Commerical Hotel {The Zoo}, now known as Angelos of Dover. It was in November and it was Friday the 13th. They had such a good time they decided they should do it every Friday the 13th. And so the tradition was born. Up to 70,000 people from far and wide attend this community of about 6500.
- Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album was released in the UK on Friday, February 13, 1970.
- The 13th book in A Series of Unfortunate Events was released on Friday, October 13, 2006 by Lemony Snicket, also known as novelist Daniel Handler.
- Five of the twelve films in the Friday the 13th series, including the most recent (reboot of the series), were released on a Friday the 13th.
- A long-running theatrical show, Supernatural Chicago, premiered on Friday, February 13, 2004.[21]
- AdventureQuest Worlds MMORPG features special in-game events featuring Voltaire (musician) and other guests for each Friday the 13th.[22]
- The Cabin in the Woods, a horror/comedy from Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon was released on Friday, April 13, 2012.[23]
Events that have occurred on Friday the 13th include:
- On October 13, 1307, Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay and several Templar Knights were arrested by King Phillip of France. Most were eventually tortured to death.
- On January 13, 1939, the single worst bushfire in Australian history struck Victoria, Australia, claiming 71 lives and causing widespread damage.
- On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was murdered in Queens, New York. The lack of reaction by her neighbors has been called thebystander effect or "Genovese syndrome"
- On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes. Books and movies told of the survivors' stories.
- The renowned rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur was pronounced dead on September 13, 1996.
- On November 13, 1998, Michel Trudeau, son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was killed in an avalanche inKokanee Lake, British Columbia
- On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley slammed in to Southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, the strongest hurricane to hit the United States since 1992.
- An engineering train on the Northern Line of the London Underground became uncoupled and went on a 13-minute journey southbound from Archway station, finally stopping at Warren Street tube station on the West End branch of the line on August 13, 2010. The train in front was forced to skip several stations and was diverted to the City branch of the line.[24]
- On January 13, 2012, France, Austria, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain had their credit ratings downgraded by Standard & Poor's[25][26][27]
- On January 13, 2012, the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia sank in front of the island of Isola del Giglio, killing at least thirty-two aboard and injuring 64.[28]
- North Korean satellite launch attempt Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 failed on April 13, 2012.
- The asteroid 99942 Apophis will make a close encounter with Earth, closer than the orbits of communication satellites, on April 13, 2029.[29]
- On April 13, 2012 at 4:00 PM a tornado hit Oklahoma.
[edit]Notable people who died on Friday the 13th
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th |
