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For the series of slasher films see Friday the 13th (film series), and for the TV series see Friday the 13th: The Series.

A Friday occurring on the 13th day of any month is considered to be a day of bad luck in English-speaking cultures around the globe. Similar superstitions exist in some other traditions. In Greece and Spain, for example, Tuesday the 13th takes the same role. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia, a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.

Origins

The origin of the Friday the 13th superstition has been linked to the belief that there were 13 people at The Last Supper of Jesus, who was crucified on Good Friday, but no evidence has been found that Friday 13th was considered especially unlucky until the 19th century. The number 13, however, has a long history of association with ill-luck. It has been linked to the fact that a lunisolar calendar must have 13 months in some years, while the solar Gregorian calendar and lunar Islamic calendar always have 12 months in a year.

Another suggestion is that the belief originated in a Norse myth about twelve gods having a feast in the hall of the sea-god Aegir. The mischievous Loki gate-crashed the party as an uninvited 13th guest and arranged for Hod, the blind god of darkness, to throw a branch of mistletoe at Balder, the god of joy and gladness. Balder was killed instantly and the Earth was plunged into darkness and mourning as a result. This, however, is untenable. The original Old Norse text, the poem Lokasenna in the Edda, mentions 17 gods by name at the feast. Loki is indeed a gatecrasher, but he is not the thirteenth person present. Nor is there any link between this episode and the killing of Balder.

The first explanation, however, seems more relevant to the superstition linked to having 13 people at the same table during a meal. This, recorded at the end of the eighteenth century, is the earliest known instance of the ill-luck of 13 in Britain. The belief was that the first person to rise from the table would be the first to die.

There is also another theory that Friday the 13th of October 1307 was the day that Philip IV of France arrested and subsequenty tortured and killed hundreds of the French Knights Templar to get their money for the French treasury. This theory appears in the factcomic Uncle Scrooge and The Crown Of The Crusader Kings[1] by Don Rosa. One other note which predates all of the aforementioned is that the first Passover seems to have occurred on Friday the 13th. The death of the firstborns of Egypt occurred on a Shabbat on the 14th of Nisan in the evening. But the Jewish calendar counts days from sunset to sunset so this would have been Friday the 13th in terms of the gentile reckoning of the days. (Exodus 12:6) Feminists have argued that because of the lunar year and Friday being named after a goddess in most European pagan calendars, the fear of Friday the 13th is a patriarchal invention, associating femininity with bad luck.

Effects

Strangely, there is evidence to suggest that Friday the 13th is actually unlucky for some. Psychologists have found that some people are especially likely to have accidents or fall ill on Friday the 13th. This has been attributed to such people feeling a heightened state of anxiety on that day. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina estimates that in the United States alone, $800 or $900 million is lost in business each Friday the 13th because some people will not travel or go to work. [2]

The date is also well-known in the motorcycle (biker) community: since 1981, motorcycle enthusiasts and vendors gather every Friday the 13th in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada. This tradition started on November 13, 1981 by Chris Simons as a gathering of approximately 25 friends. The event has grown substantially, with an estimated 100,000 people attending in August 2004, as well as music bands, vendors, a bike show, etc.

In the Spanish-speaking world, it is Tuesday the 13th (as well as Tuesdays in general) that brings bad luck; a proverb runs En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques (on Tuesday, neither get married nor start a journey).

Occurrence

The following months have a Friday the 13th:

2001	2007		2018		April, July	G
2002		2013	2019	2024	September, December	F, GF
2003	2008	2014		2025	June	E, FE
1992			2020		March, November	ED
	2009	2015		2026	February, March, November	D
2004					February, August	DC
	2010		2021	2027	August	C
2005	2011	2016	2022		May	B, CB
				2028	October	BA
2006		2017	2023		January, October	A
	2012				January, April, July	AG

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. All months whose first day falls on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th.

The Gregorian Calendar 400-year cycle contains a whole number (20871) of weeks, but the number of months (4800) is not divisible by seven. Because of this, no chosen day of the month up to the 28th can occur the same number of times on each day of the week. The 13th day of the month is slightly more likely to be on a Friday than on any other day of the week.

The distribution of the 13th day of the 4,800 months is as follows:

688: Friday
687: Sunday and Wednesday
685: Monday and Tuesday
684: Thursday and Saturday.

Famous people born or died on Friday 13th

Some famous people born on this day are:

Some famous people who died on this day are:

Mayan Calendar

The end of the 13th b'ak'tun (December 12, 2012) is conjectured to have been of great significance to the Maya, but does not necessarily mark the end of the world according to their beliefs, but a time of re-birth. According to the Popol Vuh, a book compiling details of creation accounts known to the Quiché Maya of the colonial-era highlands, we are living in the fourth world. The Popol Vuh describes the first three creations that the gods failed in making and the creation of the successful fourth world where men were placed. The Maya believed that the fourth world would end in catastrophe and the fifth and final world would be created that would signal the end of mankind.

In reality, the Mayans believed that the world would end on October 13, 4772, which is a Friday the 13th. This is confirmed by a date from Palenque, whiche projects forward in time to 1.0.0.0.0.0. The Classic Period Maya obviously did not believe that the end of this age would occur in 2012, but in this later date.

External links

Friday the 13th: Why is Friday the 13th considered an unlucky day? (Snopes.com)
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

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 The end of the 13th b'ak'tun (December 12, 2012) is conjectured to have been of great significance to the Maya, but does not necessarily mark the end of the world according to their beliefs, but a time of re-birth. According to the Popol Vuh, a book compiling details of creation accounts known to the Quiché Maya of the colonial-era highlands, we are living in the fourth world. The Popol Vuh describes the first three creations that the gods failed in making and the creation of the successful fourth world where men were placed. The Maya believed that the fourth world would end in catastrophe and the fifth and final world would be created that would signal the end of mankind.
-In reality, the Mayans believed that the world would end on October 13, 4772, which is a Friday. This is confirmed by a date from Palenque, whiche projects forward in time to 1.0.0.0.0.0. The Classic Period Maya obviously did not believe that the end of this age would occur in 2012, but in this later date.
+In reality, the Mayans believed that the world would end on October 13, 4772, which is a Friday the 13th. This is confirmed by a date from Palenque, whiche projects forward in time to 1.0.0.0.0.0. The Classic Period Maya obviously did not believe that the end of this age would occur in 2012, but in this later date.
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