Friday the thirteenth

According to belief, there is no single day of the year more terrifying than Friday the 13th. Based on this superstition, a bad luck will surely hit and befall to a person. Much worst, sometimes it ends up to death. According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute, up to 21 million people in the United States today suffer from a morbid and irrational fear of Friday the 13th.

But where this superstition originated from???

The Friday the 13th superstition is thought to have originated from the Knights Templar, a military order established in 1118 to defend the Christian city of Jerusalem. After the First Crusade and the capture of Jerusalem from the Muslims, protection of Jerusalem and the outlying Kingdom of Outremer was left to the knights. When the city was recaptured by Saladin’s Muslim forces in 1187 and all subsequent attempts by Christian Crusades to retake the city failed, the Knights Templar found themselves out of work. However, they had become extremely wealthy and powerful from their military conquests, and they never disbanded their organization or changed the clandestine ways their meetings were held. Their power and secrecy attracted the attention and distrust of King Philip IV of France. On Friday, October 13, 1307, the king sent out an order to arrest all the Knights Templar in France, accusing them of blasphemy and witchcraft. Many were burned alive, including the group’s Grand Master, Jacques de Molay. “On Friday the 13th of October 1307, the Templar Knights who were in France at the time found the soldiers of the king knocking on their doors,” said Alan Butler, co-author of The Warriors and the Bankers, a book about the Templars. “Jacque de Molay confessed pretty much right away, but he was almost certainly tortured.

The fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in two long held fears, the fear of Fridays and the fear of the number 13. Individually they are bad enough but combined are enough to make the superstitious not even contemplate getting out of bed for the day. Particularly superstitious people may become so fearful that they develop a debilitating phobia about the number 13 (triskaidekaphobia) or Friday the 13th (paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia).(

Here are some proofs of the "bad luck" the FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH" brought!!!

One that is often cited as proof of the unluckiness of the number 13 was the ill fated Apollo 13 mission to the moon. Apollo 13 was launched on April 11, 1970 or 11/4/70, which when added together equal 13 (4+11+70=85 8+5=13). Although launched from Florida, the time of launch at Mission Control in Houston, TX was 13:13 CST. Failure of the number 2 oxygen tank occurred on April 13th at 02:08:53.555 UTC, which when converted to the Eastern time zone is 9:08:53.555 and equals 13 (9+8+53+555=625 6+2+5=13). Finally it's estimated that had the explosion happened prior to launch the bill for repairing the damage would have been $13 million.

Other disastrous events include "Black Friday", Friday, July 31, 1987, when a F4 tornado ripped through Edmonton and killed 27 and injured more than 300. The Great Flood, Friday, July 13, 1951, which flooded over 2 million acres in Kansas, caused $760 million in damages and killed 24 people. The "Good Friday" earthquake, Friday, March 27, 1964, the largest Earthquake in North America's recorded history, struck Prince William Sound killed 131 and was felt around the world. A smaller quake hit Erzincan, Turkey on Friday March 13, 1992 and unofficially killed as many as 2,000 people and left another 50,000 homeless.

Famous people with unfortunate links to Friday the 13th include Al Capone who was arrested and sentenced to jail on Friday 13th, Tupac Shakur who was killed in Las Vegas on Friday the 13th, Benny Goodman, the King of Swing, who died on Friday, June 13th, 1986, and the 38th Vice President of the United States, Hubert Humphrey who died on January 13, 1978.

13 INTERESTING FACTS

Belief that the number 13 is unlucky is the most common Western superstition.

Every month has a 13th but no single year has more than three Friday the 13th's and on average there are two.

Months with a Friday the 13th always begin on a Sunday.

It is from the Norse goddess Frigg, or Freyja, that we get Frigg's Day, or Freyja's Day which became the English Friday.

Black Sabbath's self-titled first album was released in the UK on Friday, February 13, 1970 and I will be listening to it on this Friday the 13th.

In a traditional hangman's noose there are 13 twists of the rope and 13 steps to the gallows.

There is no 13th Avenue in San Francisco, instead Funston Avenue is between 12th and 14th Avenues. There is however a 13 Street. It's covered by the Central Skyway making it one of the darkest and ugliest streets in San Francisco.

In Formula 1, there is no car with the number 13. The number has been removed after two drivers were killed in crashes — both driving cars numbered 13.

According to Dr. Donald Dossey, founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, more than 80% of high-rises lack a 13th floor.

Infamous murderers Charles Manson, Harold Shipman, Frederick West, Saddam Hussein, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Theodore Bundy, and Jack the Ripper each have 13 letters in their names.

Women drivers have a 64% increased chance of death when driving on Friday the 13th.

Folklore remedies for triskaidekaphobia include climbing to the top of a mountain or skyscraper and burning all the socks you own that have holes in them. Another is to stand on your head and eat a piece of gristle.

According to at least one interpretation of the Mayan calendar the world will end on 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0 or in the Gregorian calendar, Friday, October 13, 4772.

SOURCE:

http://www.bsudailynews.com/features/origins-of-friday-the-13th-1.2064598

http://www.hauntedbay.com/history/friday13.shtml