Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Westernsuperstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. For example, 2015 had a Friday the 13th in February, March, and November, which will happen again in 2026. Leap years that begin on Sunday (i.e. that follow Dominical Letter AG) such as 2012 and 2040, also have three Friday the 13ths in January, April, and July. 2017 through 2020 had two Friday the 13ths, as did 2023; 2016, 2021, and 2022 had just one Friday the 13th, as will 2025, 2027, and 2028; 2024 will have two Friday the 13ths.[1]
A month has a Friday the 13th if and only if it begins on a Sunday.
One source mentioned for the unlucky reputation of the number 13 is a Norse myth about twelve gods having a dinner party in Valhalla. The trickster god Loki, who was not invited, arrived as the thirteenth guest, and arranged for Höðr, the god of darkness, to shoot Balder, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died, triggering much suffering in the world, which caused the number 13 to be considered unlucky.[2][3]
While there is evidence of both Friday[7] and the number 13[8] being considered unlucky, there is no record of the two items being referred to as especially unlucky in conjunction before the 19th century.[9][10]
The Knights Templar
Some cite the arrest of theKnights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307, by officers of King Philip IV of France as the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition, but it is agreed the origins remain murky.[11]
In France, Friday 13th might have been associated with misfortune as early as the first half of the 19th century. A character in the 1834 play Les Finesses des Gribouilles states, "I was born on a Friday, December 13th, 1813 from which come all of my misfortunes".[12]
An early documented reference in English occurs in H. S. Edwards' biography of Gioachino Rossini, who died on Friday 13th of November 1868:
"Rossini was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday 13th of November he passed away."[13]
Dissemination
It is possible that the publication in 1907 of T. W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth,[14]
contributed to popularizing the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.[9]
Similar dates
Similar dates are prevalent in many cultures, although it is unclear whether these similarities are in any way historically connected or only coincidental.
Tuesday the 13th in Hispanic and Greek culture
In Hispanic countries, instead of Friday, Tuesday the 13th (martes trece) is considered a day of bad luck.[15]
The Greeks also consider Tuesday (and especially the 13th) an unlucky day.[16] Tuesday is considered dominated by the influence of Ares, the god of war (or Mars, the Roman equivalent). The fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade occurred on Tuesday 13 April 1204, and the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans happened on Tuesday 29 May 1453, events that strengthen the superstition about Tuesday. In addition, in Greek the name of the day is Triti (Τρίτη) meaning the third (day of the week), adding weight to the superstition, since bad luck is said to "come in threes".[16]
There is a Tuesday the 13th in months that begin on a Thursday.
In Italian popular culture, Friday the 17th (and not the 13th) is considered a bad luck day.[17]
The origin of this belief could be traced in the writing of the number 17, in Roman numerals: XVII. By shuffling the digits of the number one can get the Latinvīxī ("I have lived", implying death at present), an omen of bad luck.[18]
In fact, in Italy, 13 is generally considered a lucky number,[19] although some people may consider 13 an unlucky number as well due to Americanization.
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17–21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day, making it the most feared day and date in history. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. It has been estimated that US$ 800–900 million is lost in business on this day.[20]
Despite this, representatives for both Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines (the latter now merged into United Airlines) have stated that their airlines do not suffer from any noticeable drop in travel on those Fridays.[21]
In Finland, a consortium of governmental and nongovernmental organizations led by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health promotes the National Accident Day (kansallinen tapaturmapäivä) to raise awareness about automotive safety, which always falls on a Friday the 13th.[22]
The event is coordinated by the Finnish Red Cross and has been held since 1995.[23]
Rate of accidents
A study by Scanlon, Luben, Scanlon, & Singleton (1993)[24]
attracted attention from popular science literature,[c][d]
as it concluded that "the risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent on the 13th";[24]: 1584
however, the authors clearly state that "the numbers of admissions from accidents are too small to allow meaningful analysis".[24]: 1586
Subsequent studies have disproved any correlation between Friday the 13th and the rate of accidents.[27][28]
On 12 June 2008 the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics stated to the contrary, that "fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home. Statistically speaking, driving is slightly safer on Friday the 13th, at least in the Netherlands; in the last two years, Dutch insurers received reports of an average 7,800 traffic accidents each Friday; but the average figure when the 13th fell on a Friday was just 7,500."[29][30]
Occurrence
Distribution
Each 400 year Gregoriansolar cycle contains 146,097 days (with 97 leap days) or exactly 20,871 weeks. Each cycle contains the same pattern of days of the week and therefore the same pattern of Fridays that are on the 13th. The 13th day of the month is very slightly more likely to be a Friday than any other day of the week.[31][32][33]
Distribution of the 13th day per weekday over 4,800 months (400 years)
Day of the week
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Occurrences
685
685
687
684
688
684
687
Any month that starts on a Sunday contains a Friday the 13th, and there is at least one Friday the 13th in every calendar year.
The months with a Friday the 13th are determined by the Dominical letter (G, F, GF, etc.) of the year. Years which begin on the same day of the week and are of the same type (i.e. common year or leap year), will have a Friday the 13th in the same months.
This sequence, given here for 1900–2099, follows a 28-year cycle from 1 March 1900 to 28 February 2100:
Months with the 13th on a Friday for years from 1900 through 2100
Years during which a Friday the 13th occurs in the month to the right (current and subsequent year are marked in bold)
Although there is always at least one Friday the 13th per calendar year, it can be as long as 14 months between two Friday the 13ths.[34] The longest period that occurs without a Friday the 13th is 14 months, either from July to September the following year being a common year starting on Tuesday(F) (e.g. 2001–02, 2012–13 and 2018–19), or from August to October the following year being a leap year starting on Saturday(BA) (e.g. 1999–2000 and 2027–28). The shortest period that occurs with a Friday the 13th is just one month, from February to March in a common year starting on Thursday(D) (e.g. 2009, 2015 and 2026).
On average, there is a Friday the 13th once every 212.35 days. Friday the 13ths occurs with an average frequency of 1.7218 per year or about 3477 since the year 1 CE.
Frequency within a single year
There can be no more than three Friday the 13ths in a single calendar year; either in February, March, and November in a common year starting on Thursday (such as 2009, 2015, or 2026) (D), or January, April, and July in a leap year starting on Sunday (such as 1984, 2012, or 2040) (AG).[35]
In the 2000s, there were three Friday the 13ths in 2009, and two Friday the 13ths in 2001, 2002, 2006, and 2007. In the 2010s, there were three Friday the 13ths in 2012 and 2015, and two in 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2019.[1] In the 2020s, there were two Friday the 13ths in 2020 and 2023. There will also be three Friday the 13ths in 2026, and two in 2024 and 2029.[1] The remaining years all have at least one Friday the 13th.[1]
For the details see the table below; this table is for the Gregorian calendar and Jan/Feb for leap years:
^
There were 13 people at the table (at the Last Supper) and the 13th was Jesus. The Last Supper was on a Thursday, and the next day was Friday, the day of crucifixion. When '13' and Friday come together, it's a double whammy.[4]
^
In Christian tradition, fear of Friday the 13th stems from the day of the Crucifixion (Friday) and the number at the [table at the] Last Supper (13 [men]). Despite these origins, the Friday the 13th superstition dates back only to the Middle Ages.[5]
^
For starters, a 1993 study published in the British Medical Journal indicates otherwise: Researchers analyzed the traffic flow and number of injuries from car accidents on the southern section of London's M25 motorway during the five months that the 13th fell on a Friday between 1990 and 1992. They compared these numbers to data collected on Friday the 6th of the same months, and found that although there are consistently fewer vehicles on the road during the 13th – possibly as a result of superstitious people choosing not to drive that day, the researchers proposed – "the risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent" on the 13th.[25]
^
The study compared hospital admissions for traffic accidents on a Friday the 13th with those on a Friday the 6th in a community outside London. Despite a lower highway traffic volume on the 13th than on the 6th, admissions for traffic accident victims increased 52 percent on the 13th.[26]
^Friday has been considered an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects at least since the 14th century, as witnessed by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales Opie, Iona; Tatem, Moira (2003). "FRIDAY an unlucky day". A Dictionary of Superstitions. Oxford Reference. ISBN9780192829160.
^
Schuld, Jochen; Slotta, Jan E.; Schuld, Simone; Kollmar, Otto; Schilling, Martin K.; Richter, Sven (1 September 2011). "Popular belief meets surgical reality: Impact of Lunar phases, Friday the 13th, and Zodiac signs on emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss". World Journal of Surgery. 35 (9): 1945–1949. doi:10.1007/s00268-011-1166-8. ISSN0364-2313. PMID21713579. S2CID23787395.
Williams, Larry (13 August 2010). "Friday the 13th". dailyspeculations.com. — article examines S&P 500 index performance on Fri 13s
asxiq [user name] (12 January 2012). "Friday the 13th performance on "All Ords" index". asxiq – all stats and no friction (asxiq.com) (blog). Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2021. PS: For those suffering from friggatriskaidekaphobia, hey, tomorrow is Saturday.{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) — examines All Ordinaries Index ("All Ords") for 1 Jan 1985 – 12 Jan 1985
