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Freaky Friday Files: Friday the 13th

Disclaimer: Some topics in this blog post may be disturbing to read. Reader's discretion advised.


Hello everyone! Happy Friday, and sending many spooky vibes your way for this Friday the 13th. I was talking to my lovely partner Luke the other day, and he mentioned writing a blog about Friday the 13th, so everyone, thank him in the comments for his idea. Hope you enjoy this post.


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Friday the 13th


I was wondering why Friday the 13th was considered unlucky, so I did some research (and by research, I mean googling) and learned that it stems from Western superstition, with no definitive answer. Friday the 13th occurs when the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday in the Gregorian calendar. This occurs at least once a year but can happen up to three times in the same year. For a month to have a Friday the 13th, the first day of the month must be a Sunday. There also doesn't appear to be evidence for the number 13 and Fridays to be unlucky prior to the 19th century (i.e., together as unlucky, but the number 13 has roots in unluckiness way back). Thanks, Wikipedia!


So why is it considered so unlucky? Let's take a look at a few reasons


  • Norse Mythology - According to Norse Myth, 12 Gods were having a dinner party in Valhalla when trickster God Loki (a God that wasn't invited) showed up as a 13th guest. Loki arranged for Höðr (God of Darkness) to shoot another God, Baldr (God of Joy & Gladness), with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Baldr passed away, and in turn, this triggered a lot of suffering in the world and is what caused the number "13" to be so unlucky.

  • Associations with Christianity - This superstition may have originated from things like the story of Jesus's Last Supper and crucifixion. There were 13 people present in the Upper Room (Cenacle) on the 13th of Holy Thursday, the night before Jesus's death on Good Friday.

  • The Knights Templar - Some people think that the arrest of the Knights Templar on Friday the 13th of October, 1307, by officers of King Phillip IV is one origin of the superstition, but this claim is considered "murky".

  • The 19th Century - In France, the infamous Friday the 13th may have been connected or correlated with misfortune very early on in the 19th Century. One character in a play called Les Finesses des Gribouilles said, "I was born on a Friday, December 13th, 1813, from which come all of my misfortunes." Another reference to Friday the 13th occurs in the biography of Gioachino Rossini written by H.S. Edwards, as Rossini passed on Friday the 13th, November 1868. A quote from the book says, "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."

  • Dissemination - i.e., action/fact/information spreading rapidly to lots of people. It may be possible that the book Friday the Thirteenth by Thomas W. Lawson is the reason that this superstition became so ingrained in Western culture.





So have any bad things happened on Friday the 13th? Yes. Let's explore!


  • Buckingham Palace - On Friday the 13th of September, 1940, Buckingham Palace was b*mbed by German forces during WWII.

  • 2020 Covid Pandemic - On Friday the 13th of March, 2020, the whole world shut down, and this date is thought to be the very start of COVID-19.

  • A 13-year-old boy struck by lightning - On Friday the 13th of August, 2010, a 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning at exactly 13:13 in the UK.

  • Tupac - On Friday, the 13th, September 1997, rapper Tupac passed away from injuries as he had been sh*t just days prior (7th of September).

  • The M*rder of Kitty Genovese - On Friday the 13th of March, 1964, Kitty was brutally r*ped and m*rdered by Winston Moseley in her apartment building. Allegedly, 38 people heard the attack and none of the called the police and which is when the bystander effect became a household term. I think this would be an interesting case to cover, let me know if you'd like to see a blog/video about the bystander effect and this particular case. RIP Kitty, I'm sorry no one helped you.

  • Costa Concordia - On Friday, the 13th of January, 2012, the ship called Costa Concordia sank into the ocean in Tuscany. It was the biggest shipwreck and had twice the number of people on board as the Titanic (over 3k). 32 people lost their lives, and in 2015, the captain was convicted of manslaughter and is currently serving out his sentence. Evacuation took over 6 hours.

  • Kansas Flooding - On Friday, the 13th of July, 1951, the state of Kansas (in the USA) had over 25 inches of rain, and flooding occurred. The cities that were most affected were Topeka, Manhattan, and Lawrence. Some oil tanks also caught on fire and exploded, and many people were stuck on trains for at least 4 days. Many Kansas locals call this incident Black Friday.

  • The Andes Plane Crash - On Friday, the 13th of October, 1972, a plane crashed into the Andes. 12 people passed away instantly, and other people resorted to cannibalism to survive. The plane was Uruguayan Flight 571, travelling to Chile. Some people were rescued in the following days, but search and rescue teams were called off after 10 days. It was considered shocking when two men appeared 72 days later and told authorities there were at least 16 other people trapped in the mountains.

  • Aeroflot 217 Plane Crash - On the same day as the above crash, Friday the 13th of October, 1972, there was a devastating plane crash in Russia. Everyone on board (including the crew) died. The plane was trying to land due to bad weather, and the cause of the crash has never been confirmed. It was found 3 miles from the runway.

  • The Friday the 13th Virus - On Friday, the 13th of January, 1989, there was a terrifying computer virus in the UK. The virus deleted hundreds of personal files and slowed computers down. It thankfully did not cross over to the Atlantic Ocean.

  • Black Friday Bushfires in Victoria - On Friday, the 13th of January, 1939, bushfires were at their worst. 71 people lost their lives due to the fire, 438 people lost their lives due to the heatwave, and 575,000 hectares of land were burnt. It's not on a Friday, the 13th, but there was also Black Saturday in 2009, where 173 people lost their lives.

  • Sam Patch - On Friday the 13th of November, 1829, Sam Patch, a Daredevil of his time, jumped into the Genesee River from the top of Genesee Falls in New York. He didn't make it. However, a few weeks earlier, he jumped off Niagara Falls and survived.

  • Apparently, on Friday the 13th, 2029, there is meant to be an asteroid 20,000 miles away from Earth. It's not going to hit Earth, according to NASA, but it may cause drastic impacts such as avalanches.


As well as spooky stuff that's happened, there's actually been quite a lot of good stuff that's happened on Friday the 13th as well. These include: President Lyndon B. Johnson signing an EO to prevent gender discrimination, Malta becoming a republic, the first female pilot instructor, Pinky, the Olsen twins were born, and Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour began. So, can we really say Friday the 13th is unlucky? I'm not so sure. It might just be another day, rooted in superstition from white folk. It is interesting how a massive horror franchise was created out of this superstition, though (Friday the 13th movies with Freddy & Jason).


Has anything unlucky ever happened to you on a Friday the 13th? Let me know in the comments below. I'm trying to wrack my brain for anything that's happened to me on that date, but I really can't think of anything.


Thanks for reading,

Ash





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References/Readings




4 commentaires

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Jeaneane
14 juin
Noté 5 étoiles sur 5.

I had no idea about the day Friday the 13th as a kid. Being a kid when the Jason "Scary Movie" series came out, the Friday the 13th franchise was one of the only things I associated with that day. It was a great movie series back then, and it made me look forward to each new release. I was too young to know the origin of the series and how the date held an ominous mystique that made it something to avoid for many people. In a sense, Friday the 13th actually was for me the same as every other Friday. There was no mystique, only anticipation for the next movie. That's an interesting perspective now. The origin of…

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ashey9111
15 juin
En réponse à

That's super interesting! I always remember being told as a kid that Friday the 13th was unlucky, but maybe my family was just VERY superstitious. So fascinating how we can have completely different experiences of something. Thanks for sharing!

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Kimberly
13 juin

Wow I didn't know about all of that. Now I wanna know about the bystander effect! Thanks for sharing.

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ashey9111
15 juin
En réponse à

Thank you!!!! I just did an Instagram Poll and it looks like a lot more people are interesting in finding out more about the bystander effect so I better get onto it haha!

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