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 :)
