Friyay?
It is primarily observed in Western culture but it makes for some interesting entertainment. The world’s economy is estimated to lose about $900 million because people just refuse to travel on Friday the 13.
The myth of Friday the 13 came from… actually, there’s no direct source. Just conjecture. There is recorded superstition against the number thirteen.
Judas Iscariot, the Apostle who betrayed Jesus, was said to be the thirteenth guest to sit down during the Last Supper.
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In Norse mythology, Loki the god of mischief, was also the thirteenth guest at a dinner party for the gods. He then played a prank on the other gods and plunged the world into darkness.
Friday also has connotations of evil or bad juju as it used to be known as Hangman’s Day. People who had been condemned to death would be hanged on Friday. And you know, Good Friday.
TGIF, amirite?
But the Friday the 13 superstition wasn’t necessarily cemented until the early 20 century after publication of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth in 1907. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
Weird events have happened on this date that have helped cement the hoodoo associated with Friday the 13. Here are some of them.
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January 13 2012
The cruise ship, Costa Concordia sank off the Italian Coast killing 32 people.
August 13 2010
A thirteen year old boy was struck by lightning at 1.13pm (1313h) in Suffolk, England. He survived unscathed.
October 13 2006
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24 inches of snow covered Buffalo, New York causing an area wide blackout.
August 13 1999
Renowned film director, Alfred Hitchcock would have turned 100.
The Olsen twins were also born on a Friday the 13, June 1986.
September 13 1996
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Arguably the greatest rapper who ever lived, Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas.
January 13 1989
The Friday the 13 virus crashed hundreds of IBM computers.
October 13 1989
The stock market experienced the second largest drop it had ever had at the time. With a 6.91% drop.
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October 13 1972
Fairchild Plane ferrying a rugby team from Montevideo, Uruguay to Chile disappeared over the Andes Mountains. Only 16 of the 45 passengers survived.
After ten weeks, two of the survivors were spotted and when asked how they managed to make it, they revealed that they ate the passengers who had died. This story is immortalized in the 1993 film Alive starring Ethan Hawke.
On the same day, a plane crashed near Moscow, Russia where 174 people were killed.
November 13 1970
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The Bhola Cyclone killed an estimated 500,000 people in Bangladesh and created floods in the Ganges Delta that claimed just over a million lives.
March 13 1964
Kitty Genovese was stabbed on her way home to Queens, New York. 30 people bore witness to the event but none moved to assist her. Leading to the coined phrase the Genovese Syndrome.
Where a large group of people are unwilling to volunteer to assist people. Essentially like, “If there are so many people why should I help?”
July 13 1821
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Founder of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest was born.
