Friday the 13th

Are you a Paraskevidekatriaphobic? 

You know, one of those people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th.  Yes believe it or not society has a name for everything and this is one of them!

Fear of the number 13 is Triskaidekaphobia. the belief that the number 13 is unlucky is the most common Western superstition. Coincidently, the word "superstitious" has 13 letters! Friday the 13th is considered a day of bad luck in English, French and Portuguese speaking countries around the world, as well as in Austria, Germany, Estonia, Finland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, and the Philippines...as well as in some teen-targeted  horror films.

With all that common knowledge here are a few things to consider with respect to Friday the 13^th:

The Superstition (kind of)

• Personal Grooming is bad on Friday the 13^th. If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow. Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams.
• Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune.
• If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year.
• If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devils luck; Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names. (Does his birth certificate really say "Jack the Ripper"?  Couldn't the police just have looked him up in the phonebook?)

• There are 13 witches in a coven.
• Thirteen had been revered in prehistoric goddess-worshiping cultures, we are told, because it corresponded to the number of lunar (menstrual) cycles in a year.
• According to at least one interpretation of the Mayan calendar the world will end on 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0 or in the Gregorian calendar, Friday, October 13, 4772.
• Christians also vilified the number 13 as the number of people who attended the Last Supper.
• One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again.  Cool story - too bad it's an urban legend.  It would have been better if the captain was named Joe Friday.  Just the facts, ma'am.

The Facts (maybe)

• The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended. (Findings of a 1993 study published in the British Medical Journal, "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?")
• The Crucifixion took place on Friday the 13^th
• The Code of Hammurabi omitted the 13^th law.
• The Turks so disliked the number 13 that they practically expunged it from their vocabulary. 
• Norse mythology tells of 12 gods dining at Valhalla when a 13th uninvited guest, Loki, arrived and persuaded the god of darkness to slay the god of happiness.
• Ancient Persians stayed home on the 13^th day to avoid bad luck.
• After 13 years of being the richest man in the world, Microsoft Corporation chairman Bill Gates lost this title, according to Forbes magazine's 2008 list of the world's billionaires.
• Many buildings do not have 13th Floor.  Well, they do, they just name it the 14th Floor.
• Many cities do not have a 13th St or a 13th Avenue.
• Many airports skip the 13th gate.
• Most airplanes have no 13th aisle.
• Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
• Friday, October 13, 1307, is the most well known Friday the 13th in history. On this date hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of Knights Templar were rounded up on the orders of King Philip IV of France and subsequently tortured.
• Jacques de Molay, the last known Grand Master of the Knights Templar was burned to death on a slow fire outside Notre Dame on Friday, March 13, 1314.
• Apollo 13 was launched on April 11, 1970 or 11/4/70, which when added together equal 13 (4+11+70=85 8+513). Although launched from Florida, the time of launch at Mission Control in Houston, TX was 13:13 CST. Failure of the number 2 oxygen tank occurred on April 13th at 02:08:53.555 UTC, which when converted to the Eastern time zone is 9:08:53.555 and equals 13 (9+8+53+555=625 6+2+5= 13). Finally it's estimated that had the explosion happened prior to launch the bill for repairing the damage would have been $13 million.  Clear as mud, folks. 
• "Black Friday", Friday, July 13, 1987, was the day a F4 tornado ripped through Edmonton and killed 27 and injured more than 300.
• The Great Flood occurred on Friday, July 13, 1951. It flooded over 2 million acres in Kansas, causing $760 million in damages and killing 24 people.
• Al Capone who was arrested and sentenced to jail on Friday 13th
• Months with a Friday the 13th always begin on a Sunday.
• In a traditional hangman's noose there are 13 twists of the rope and 13 steps to the gallows.
• In Formula 1 Racing, there is no car with the number 13. The number has been removed after two drivers were killed in crashes both driving cars numbered 13.

And The Suggested Cures?

• Stand on your head and chew a piece of beef gristle.
• Throw socks with holes in them off a high mountain or skyscraper.
• When you can pronounce the word paraskevidekatriaphobia you are cured.
• Saturday the 14th! Because the workweek is over and it is a Saturday. Enjoy the weekend.