Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th is superstitiously considered a day of bad luck in English-, French- and German-speaking countries, as well as in other countries around the world.

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, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή) (meaning Friday), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς) (meaning thirteen), attached to phobía (φοβία) (meaning fear). The term is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a simple phobia (fear) of the number thirteen appearing in any case.

History

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 recognized signs of the zodiac, the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve Apostles of Jesus, 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, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday, as the day on which Jesus Christ was considered by most Christian denominations to have been crucified, has been viewed both positively and negatively among Christians.

Despite the reputation of the two separated elements, there is no evidence for a link between the two before the 19th century. The earliest known reference in English occurs in a 1869 biography of 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.

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.

Though the superstition developed relatively recently, much older origins are often claimed for it, most notably in the novel The Da Vinci Code (and later the film), which traced the belief to the arrest of the Knights Templar on Friday October 13, 1307.

Effects in people and cultures

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. 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". 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.

A British Medical Journal study has shown that there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents on Fridays the 13th.

Fewer 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; but statistically speaking, driving is a little bit safer on Friday 13th; 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.

Occurrence

The following months have a Friday the 13th: Month Years Dominical Letter January 2006, 2012, 2017, 2023 A, AG February 2004, 2009, 2015, 2026 D, DC March 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026 D, ED April 2001, 2007, 2012, 2018 G, AG May 2005, 2011, 2016, 2022 B, CB June 2003, 2008, 2014, 2025 E, FE July 2001, 2007, 2012, 2018 G, AG August 2004, 2010, 2021, 2027 C, DC September 2002, 2013, 2019, 2024 F, GF October 2006, 2017, 2023, 2028 A, BA November 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026 D, ED December 2002, 2013, 2019, 2024 F, GF

The following years have Fridays the 13th in these months: Year Months Dominical Letter 2001 April, July G 2002 September, December F 2003 June E 2004 February, August DC 2005 May B 2006 January, October A 2007 April, July G 2008 June FE 2009 February, March, November D 2010 August C 2011 May B 2012 January, April, July AG 2013 September, December F 2014 June E 2015 February, March, November D 2016 May CB 2017 January, October A 2018 April, July G 2019 September, December F 2020 March, November ED 2021 August C 2022 May B 2023 January, October A 2024 September, December GF 2025 June E 2026 February, March, November D 2027 August C 2028 October BA

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).

The longest period that can occur without a Friday the 13th is fourteen months, either from July to September the following year (e.g. in 2001/2002 and 2012/13), or from August to October in a leap year (e.g. in 2027/28).

Patterns for non leap-years: First month occurring Second month Third month January October February March November April July May June August September December

Patterns for leap years: First month occurring Second month Third month January April July February August March November May June September December October

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. 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:

• The 2008 Tamil block-buster film Dasavathaaram was released on Friday, June 13, 2008 in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, USA and UK.
• 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.
• Friday the Thirteenth, a gathering for motorcycle enthusiasts held in the Canadian beach town of Port Dover, Ontario every Friday the 13th.
• Taiwanese-American Singer Wang Lee Hom released his long awaited album, Change Me on Friday, July 13, 2007.
• The films The Happening and The Incredible Hulk were released on Friday, June 13, 2008.
• The first TV special on iCarly, "iCarly Saves TV" was aired on June 13, 2008.
• The Canadian release of the Microsoft's Zune music player was on June 13, 2008.
• Nintendo released 3 new colours of the Nintendo DS Lite to the United Kingdom on June 13, 2008.
• The remake of the original Friday the 13th is planned to release on Friday, February 13, 2009.

Natural events on Fridays the 13th

Due to the large number of 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 Black Friday bushfires in Victoria, Australia occurred on Friday, January 13, 1939.
• The Uruguayan Rugby team infamously crashed in the Andes mountain range on Friday, 13 October 1972
• Hurricane Charley made landfall near Port Charlotte, Florida on Friday, August 13, 2004.
• The "Friday the 13th Storm" struck Buffalo, New York on October 13, 2006.
• UNIX time will reach 1,234,567,890 decimal seconds on February 13, 2009 at 23:31:30 GMT.
• The asteroid 2004 MN4 will make its close encounter on Friday, April 13, 2029.

Notable births and deaths

Born on Friday the 13th Date of Birth Oliviero de Fabritiis 13 June, 1902 Georges Simenon 13 February, 1903 Samuel Beckett 13 April, 1906 Bud Freeman 13 April, 1906 Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen 13 January, 1911 Fred Daly 13 June, 1913 Eileen Farrell 13 February, 1920 Stuart Wagstaff 13 February, 1925 Jennifer Vyvyan 13 March, 1925 Margaret Thatcher 13 October, 1925 Fidel Castro 13 August, 1926 Herbert Ross 13 May, 1927 Rosalind Elias 13 March, 1931 T. J. Cloutier 13 October, 1939 Carol Lynley 13 February, 1942 Zoë Wanamaker 13 May, 1949 Yuri Ahronovich 13 May, 1949 Peter Davison 13 April, 1951 Max Weinberg 13 April, 1951 Deborah Raffin 13 March, 1953 Steve Buscemi 13 December, 1957 Julia Louis-Dreyfus 13 January, 1961 Will Clark 13 March, 1964 Kate Walsh 13 October, 1967 Tim Story 13 March, 1970 Sara Cox 13 December, 1974 Sarah Connor 13 June, 1980 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen 13 June, 1986 Marco Andretti 13 March, 1987

Died on Friday the 13th Date of Death Sam Patch 13 November, 1829 Gioachino Rossini 13 November, 1868 Diamond Jim Brady 13 April, 1917 Sir Henry Segrave 13 June, 1930 Arnold Schoenberg 13 July, 1951 Martita Hunt 13 June, 1969 Hubert Humphrey 13 January, 1978 Ralph Kirkpatrick 13 April, 1984 Benny Goodman 13 June, 1986 Gerald Moore 13 March, 1987 Stuart Challender 13 December, 1991 Tupac Shakur 13 September, 1996 Tony Roper 13 October, 2000 Tim Russert 13 June, 2008

References

External links

• 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