Friday the 13th is considered a day of bad luck in English-, French- and Portuguese-speaking countries around the world, as well as in Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Similar superstitions exist in some other traditions. In Greece, Romania and Spanish-speaking countries, for example, it is Tuesday the 13th that is considered unlucky. In Italy it is Friday the 17th.
The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia,[1] a word that is derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Παρασκευή (Friday), δεκατρείς (thirteen), and φοβία (phobia), and is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.
History
Many people believe that the superstition originated on Friday, October 13, 1307, when hundreds of Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of Philip the Fair (who owed their order vast sums of money), and later tortured into confessing a heresy in the Order[15]. In fact, no historical date has been verifiably identified as the origin of the superstition.
Both the number thirteen and Friday have been considered unlucky:
- In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve tribes of Israel etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular transgressing this completeness.[2]
- Friday, as the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified, has been viewed both positively and negatively among Christians.
Despite the onus on the two separated elements, there is no evidence for a link between the two before the 19th century. The earliest reference occurs in a 1869 biography on Gioachino Rossini:
- [Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; and if it be true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day, and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday, the 13th of November, he died.[3]
However, only in the 20th century did the superstition receive greater audience, as
- Friday the 13th doesn't even merit a mention in E. Cobham Brewer's voluminous 1898 edition of the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, though one does find entries for "Friday, an Unlucky Day" and "Thirteen Unlucky." When the date of ill fate finally does make an appearance in later editions of the text, it is without extravagant claims as to the superstition's historicity or longevity.[4]
Though the superstition may have developed only recently, much older origins are often claimed for it, such as by the recounting of the arrest of the Knights Templar in the fictional work novel The Da Vinci Code, which traced the belief to the arrest of the Knights Templar Friday October 13, 1307.[4]
Effects in people and cultures
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, more than 67 million people are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines like doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. "$800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day".[2] Despite this, representatives for both Delta and Continental Airlines say that their airlines don't suffer from any noticeable drop in travel on those Fridays.[5]
A British Medical Journal study has shown that there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents on Friday the 13ths.[6]
Occurrence
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The following months have a Friday the 13th:
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The following years have Friday the 13ths in these months:
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This sequence, here given for 2001–2028, repeats every 28 years from 1901 to 2099. The months with a Friday the 13th are determined by the Dominical letter (G, F, GF, etc.) of the year. Any month that begins on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th.
Every year has at least one and at most three Fridays the 13th, with 688 occurrences during each 400-year Gregorian cycle (146,097 days).
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Patterns for non leap-years:
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Patterns for leap years :
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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, and 400 * 12 = 4,800 months. Thus, each cycle contains the same pattern of days of the week (and thus the same pattern of Fridays the 13th), but no day of the month up to the 28th can occur the same number of times on each day of the week (because 4,800 is not divisible by 7). The 13th day of the month is slightly more likely to be a Friday than any other day of the week.[7] On average, there is a Friday the 13th once every 212.35 (212 and 241/688) days.
The distribution of the 13th day over the 4,800 months is as follows:
| Day of the week | Number of occurrences |
|---|---|
| Sunday | 687 |
| Monday | 685 |
| Tuesday | 685 |
| Wednesday | 687 |
| Thursday | 684 |
| Friday | 688 |
| Saturday | 684 |
Planned events on Fridays the 13th
Some events are intentionally scheduled for Friday the 13th for dramatic effect. They include:
- Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album was released in the UK on Friday, February 13, 1970.
- The 13th book of the Series of Unfortunate Events was released on Friday, October 13, 2006 by novelist Daniel Handler, also known as Lemony Snicket.
Natural events on Fridays the 13th
Due to the large number of negative events that happen in the world, a similar list could be compiled for any combination of day of the month and day of the week.
- The Uruguayan Rugby team infamously crashed in the Andes mountain range on Friday the 13th October, 1972
- The asteroid 99942 Apophis will make its close encounter on Friday, April 13, 2029.
- UNIX time will reach 1,234,567,890 decimal seconds on February 13, 2009 at 23:31:30 GMT.
- Hurricane Charley made landfall near Port Charlotte, Florida on Friday, August 13, 2004.
- The Black Friday bushfires in Victoria, Australia occurred on Friday, January 13 1939.
Notable births and deaths
References
- ^ Alternative spellings include paskevodekatriaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia.
- ^ a b John Roach, "Friday the 13th Phobia Rooted in Ancient History", National Geographic News, August 12, 2004.
- ^ Henry Sutherland Edwards, The Life of Rossini, 1869, p. 340.
- ^ a b Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky
- ^ Josh Sens, "Some Don't Count on lucky", Via Magazine, January 2004.
- ^ T. J. Scanlon, R. N. Luben, F. X. Scanlon, N. Singleton, "Is Friday the 13th bad for your health?", British Medical Journal, issue 307 (1993), p. 1584–1586.
- ^ B. H. Brown, "Solution to Problem E36", American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 40, issue 10 (1933), p. 607; Jean Meeus, Mathematical Astronomy Morsels IV, 2007, p. 367.
- ^ Thomas, W. Stehpen (1988). "Sleep City The Sesquicentenneial History of Mt. Hope Cemetery" (PDF). Rochester History. L (4). Rochester Public Library: 4. ISSN 0035-7413. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
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External links
Template:Illustrated Wikipedia
- Friday The 13th Horror Movie Tribute Site
- Friday the 13th Phobia Rooted in Ancient History
- Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky (About.com)
- How Friday the 13th works (HowStuffWorks.com)
- National Geographic: Friday the 13th Phobia Rooted in Ancient History
- Friday the 13th and the Templars - About.com article
- Your Unlucky Day: The religious roots of triskaidekaphobia.
- Some don't count on Lucky 13 - Via Magazine.
- Paraskevidekatriaphobia - skepdic.com article on Friday the 13th
- http://www.infoplease.com/spot/friday13th.html
- A world of Luck: Friday the 13th - Snopes.com article
- Triskaidekaphobia on MathWorld