Unlucky Friday 13 is mostly a Western thing on the Gregorian calendar. Both the day Friday and the number 13 are considered unlucky, but there is no evidence of the two together being unlucky before the 19th century.
1. More than 20 million people in the U.S. affected
According to the Stress Management Centre and Phobia Institute an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by an irrational fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines, doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed.
2. Paraskevidekatriaphobia
3. Black cats
4. The Last Supper
5. Thirteen comes after twelve
6. Panic on Wall Street on Friday the 13th and a 1907 novel
It is possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W. Lawson’s popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, contributed to the superstitious fear of the day spreading. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
7. The Knights Templar
8. Automotive safety awareness in Finland
In Finland, a consortium of governmental and nongovernmental organizations led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, promotes National Accident Day (kansallinen tapaturmapäivä) to raise awareness about automotive safety, which always falls on a Friday the 13th. The event is coordinated by the Finnish Red Cross and has been held since 1995.
9. Traffic incidences in the UK
A study in the British Medical Journal concluded that there “is a significant level of traffic-related incidences on Friday the 13th as opposed to a random day, such as Friday the 6th, in the UK”.
10. Skipping 13
11. Twice in 2019 – 13 weeks after the previous one
Friday, 13 December 2019, gives us the second Friday the 13th of this year, 13 weeks after the previous Friday the 13th in September. Friday the 13th occurs at least once every year, but it can occur up to three times in the same year. There were two in 2018, two in 2019 and there will be two in 2020, but in 2021 and 2022, there will only be one per year.
12. Of course it’s irrational
For many people, superstitions are based more on cultural habit than conscious belief. If you are surrounded by certain beliefs and superstitions they are probably going to affect you in some way or another whether tongue in cheek or for real.