Beings that today is Friday the 13th, I figured I would bring you some little known facts about the superstitious day. Many people think Friday the 13th is an unlucky day and we all know how today is portrayed during the movies but many people do believe that Friday the 13th is a very lucky day. I personally think it’s just another day on the calendar, what about you? Find out 13 facts about Friday the 13th after the jump.
1. The longest period that can occur without a Friday the 13th is fourteen months.
2. Fear Factor: North Carolina’s Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute reported in 2004 that anywhere from 17 to 20 million Americans will alter their plans — avoiding flights, work, and in extreme cases, leaving the house — so as not to tempt fate on the allegedly unlucky day. The overall damage: $800-$900 million in lost revenues, the Institute said.
3. Checkered Past: Living up to its name, a lot of bad things have occurred on this date in history: Many believe Jesus was crucified on this day; in 1307, French monarch Philip IV tortured hundreds on monks he felt were guilty of heresy; in 1970, the Apollo 13 was badly hindered when a liquid oxygen tank burst; in 1992 a Turkish earthquake killed almost 2,000 citizens, leaving another 50,000 with no place to live.
4. According to the British Medical Journal there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents when the date is Friday 13th.
5. Mathematicians have figured out that every calendar year will have at least one Friday the 13th. In 2012 — already fraught with Armageddon anxiety as the Mayan calendar expires — we’ve had three of them this year.
6. Unlucky 13: There are many theories as to why 13 is considered a bad number, to varying degrees of believability. Among them include the notion that since 12 signifies wholeness for many things (clocks, months of the year, the tribes of Israel, Apostles of Jesus, constellations in the Zodiac), 13 upsets that balance. Experts estimate 85% of qualifying buildings do not designate a 13th floor (calling it the 14th floor, instead) because of the stigma attached to the number.
7. Yes there’s a formal term: People who fear the day suffer from a condition doctors have labeled “Paraskevidekatriaphobia.” The root of the word is a combination of Frigga (the Norse goddess who the day of the week is named for) and triskaidekaphobia, which means fear of the number 13.
8. Many famous figures in popular culture and history were born on Friday the 13th, but what’s strange is the crop when considered together. We sure can’t imagine these blokes celebrating together. Fidel Castro (1926), Steve Buscemi (1957) and Margaret Thatcher (1923) were all born on a Friday the 13th. Legendary rapper Tupac Shakur died on Friday the 13th in 1996.
9.Architects and civil engineers are also superstitious! Many hospitals don’t have a room 13. Many airports don’t have a gate 13, and most elevators don’t have a button for the 13th floor.
10.In Spain and many Spanish-speaking countries, it is Tuesday the 13th that is traditionally feared. In Italy, Friday the 17th is a day of bad luck.
11. In Paris, superstitious diners in parties of 13 can either order an additional place to be set or hire a quatorzieme, a professional 14th guest.
12. The U.S. economy loses up to 900 million dollars every time there is a Friday the 13th—many people avoid business deals or work on the allegedly doomed date.
13. Names famously associated with their distrust of the day known include former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and industrialists Paul Getty and Henry Ford. Not bothered by it? Songstress Taylor Swift, who has the number 13 on the back of her Twitter ID (TaylorSwift13). She tweeted Friday, “I love it when it’s the 13th. Clearly.”
