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Friday the 13th: Unlucky or not?

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Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. First up, a big ‘Best of Luck’ to all those participating in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon today. Good going!!

How’s your weekend been? Relaxed? Enjoyable? Or did you start the weekend cowering in fear on Friday the 13th - like 17 to 21 million Americans who are affected by a fear of this day, making it the most feared day and date in history?

That’s right, this fortnight’s GK nugget is about that fearful day – Friday the 13th

Historically, the superstition might have arisen during the Middle Ages based on the story of Jesus – He was crucified on a Friday with 13 people being a part of the Last Supper on the night prior to his crucifixion.  

In 1907 Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday the Thirteenth might have added to the superstition. The novel told the story of an unscrupulous broker who takes advantage of the superstition to create a panic on Wall Street on Friday the 13th.

Fear of Friday the 13th is an actual medical condition – The phobia is known as friggatriskaidekaphobia which comes from Frigga, the name of the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named, and triskaidekaphobia, or fear of the number thirteen. It is also called paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví (meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (meaning "thirteen").

The number 13 has been considered cursed across the world for thousands of years. The number 12 is historically considered the number of completeness, while its older cousin, 13, has been seen as an outlier. There are 12 months of the year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 hours of the clock, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles of Jesus, 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, among many incidences of the pattern historically.

13 is most definitely considered an outcast. There are many buildings that don’t have a 13th floor, many airports don’t have a Gate Number 13 and similarly some hospitals & hotels (including the Carlton in London) don’t have a room with the number 13 in it. Our very own Jet Airlines doesn’t have any rows numbered 13 in their aircrafts.

All years will have at least one Friday the 13th. The good news is that there cannot be more than three Friday the 13ths in any given calendar year. The longest one can go without seeing a Friday the 13th is 14 months. (2017 has 2 – Jan 13th & Oct 13th)

Buckingham Palace was hit by five German bombs on Friday September 13 1940 with both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth coming close to being killed. One member of the royal staff died and the palace chapel was destroyed.

Did you know that the Hollywood sign – which originally read HOLLYWOODLAND – was unveiled on Friday 13 July, 1923? It was built to advertise a housing development, but has since become one of the world's biggest tourist attractions.

The commercially successful Friday the 13th franchise includes 12 horror movies, a television series, and several books that focus on curses and superstitions. Even though the films and the television series consistently received negative reviews from critics, they have a huge following.

That’s all for this fortnight. Be safe & don’t be superstitious :)



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