With the year being what it has, nobody is in the mood for any more bad luck.
For those superstitious folks out there, you might want to sit this one out – and nobody blames you – but for the rest of us, Friday the 13th is just another way to welcome the weekend, with a bit of interesting and coincidental anecdotes. Let’s delve in!
1. Origins of the agony
As with many unsubstantiated fears, there is little consensus about why this day is considered unlucky. One story is lodged in biblical beginnings, with 13 guests at the Last Supper, after which Jesus was crucified on the Friday.
2. Peut-être it has French origins?
Others believe it dates back to 1307 when the French king, Philip IV, gave orders to arrest hundreds of Knights Templar in France, thereby diminishing the power of this order. This happened on – you guessed it – Friday, 13th.
3. What do we call this fear?
The fear of Friday 13th is known as friggatriskaidekaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia, while the general fear of the number ’13’ is known as triskaidekaphobia –the reason there is no ‘level 13’ on some buildings.
4. Where does this come from?
Friggatriskaidekaphobia comes from ‘Frigga’, the Norse goddess of wisdom – Thor’s mom for you Marvel (or mythology) fans! – after whom Friday is named. ‘Triskaideka’ is Greek for 13, and ‘phobia’ is more universally understood as meaning ‘fear’. Paraskevidekatriaphobia is another Greek word where ‘paraskeví’ translates to ‘Friday’, and ‘dekatria’ also means 13.
5. The master of horror
Film director, Alfred Hitchcock, renowned for his horror movies including ‘Psycho’ and ‘The Birds’, was born on 13 August 1899 and, had he lived long enough, he would have – quite fittingly – celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday, 13 August, 1999.
6. Another near miss
Hitchcock’s directorial debut back in 1922 was actually for a movie entitled ‘Number 13’. However, insufficient funding meant the movie never made it to the silver screen.
7. Other celebrity connections
Hitchcock isn’t the only one with interesting ties. Many well-known celebrities have some connection with Friday 13th; the Olsen twins, Julia Louis Dreyfus and Steve Buscemi were all born on such a day, while Tupac Shakur died on Friday, 13, 1996.
8. Keeping it on screen
The Friday 13th franchise has had phenomenal global success with films, a television series and books all dedicated to the superstition. Despite lacklustre reviews, there’s always another Friday 13th film around the corner!
9. The 13th film
It seems we might be due another one because the 13th Friday 13th film was released in 2017. However, maybe 2020 was scary enough!
10. Check your calendar
If you do suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia, best you seek help, as all years will have at least one Friday, 13th. However, there can never be more than three Friday 13ths in one year – in 2020, we had two.
11. Nowhere is safe
On Friday, 13 November, 2015, astronomers captured a video of a mysterious piece of ‘space junk’ that actually fell to earth. Fortunately, it was burned up by Earth’s atmosphere before causing any damage.
12. Watch that space
It doesn’t end there! NASA has announced that on Friday, 13 April, 2029, a large asteroid is on track to pass extremely close to Earth – so close that it will be visible to the naked eye Africa, Europe and Asia.
13. You’re in luck!
There have actually been studies conducted into Friday, 13th, revealing that the day has little or no effect on ‘luck’. Events such as accidents, hospital visits and natural disasters don’t peak at this time.
Plus, Cyril has announced the booze ban is over, so we can all go out and – responsibly – enjoy a drink this weekend!
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