Friggatriskaidekaphobia and Friday the 13th Facts

By Heather B on August 13th, 2010

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Today is – eek – Friday the 13^th!  Many people – more than 60 million world wide – claim to have at least a small degree of Friggatriskaidekaphobia, or, a morbid irrational fear of Friday the 13^th.  (I’m sure the horror movies who share the same name as the ominous date have done little to help.)

To mark the occasion, we’ve drafted a list of 13 facts about today’s superstitious date.

1. According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a “Friday the 13^th” superstition before the 19^th century.
2. The British Medical Journal writes that there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents when the date is Friday the 13^th.
3. Every year has at least one Friday the 13^th, but no more than 3.
4. The longest period that can occur without a Friday the 13^th is fourteen months.
5. SAW the ride opened at Thorpe Park in the UK on Friday March 13, 2009.  The ride was marred by “teething problems” for the first few days after it opened.
6. The independent horror flick Friday the 13^th was released in May 1980, grossing $39.7 million at the box office, despite being produced with a budget of only $550,000.
7. The Athens Olympic Games opened on Friday, August 13, 2004.
8. Famous people born on Friday the 13^th include: Samuel Beckett (April 13, 1906); Margaret Thatcher (October 13, 1923); Fidel Castro (August 13, 1926); and Steve Buscemi (December 13, 1957).
9. Tupac Shakur died on Friday, September 13, 1996.
10. The Uruguayan rugby team’s plane crashed in the Andes mountain range on Friday October 13, 1972.
11. There are 13 steps to the gallows, 13 knots in a hangman’s noose, and the guillotine blade falls 13 ft.
12. Many hospitals have no room 13, and most airports don’t have a Gate 13.  Apartment buildings often do not have a floor 13.
13. Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13.  Napoleon and President Herbert Hoover were said to be sufferers.