While I admit to being very superstitious about many things, Friday the 13th isn't one of them, nor is the number 13. In fact, I like to think of it as lucky, not something to fear. Yeah, I'm weird. When I was in high school, many people told me I was...and it never had anything to do with *13*. Maybe I'll share more on that someday. ;)
But what makes Friday the 13th so feared by so many? I'm glad you asked!
THE HISTORY OF FRIDAY THE 13TH
- Friday the 13th traces back to a Dutch holiday where mischievous children would sneak into graveyards at night and defecate on tombstones.
Some mischievous children needed a different hobby...and attention to their backsides.
- In France, Friday the 13th often fell on the day after the Feast of Saint Imbibecus. Thus the day was often associated with terrible hangovers and poor choices made the night before.
Leave it to the French with their wine. Maybe they shouldn't have Imbibecused so much.
- The Aztecs brutally killed 39,000 in one day on Friday the 13th of August, 1539. This was done at the request of the recently arrived Hernan Cortez, who claimed to be a god seeking tribute. The next day he overthrew their empire.
Trisky jerk, wasn't he?
- One source says the number 13 has been unlucky since the Last Supper of Christ, where thirteen people were in attendance.
It's rumored by some that 1 of the 13 was a woman. And the 13th was the woman, of course.
- Hammurabi’s Code, the first set of state initiated laws, omits the number 13, leading some to believe the superstition dates back to Babylon in 1700 BC. However archaeologists agree that there indeed was a thirteenth law that was scratched out. Studies of ancient tablets indicate the law condoned cross dressing of government officials, but was probably removed at the advice of Hammurabi’s aides.
With that in mind, shouldn't the number 13 be feared only by cross-dressers?
- Genghis Khan is said to have tasted his first defeat on Friday the 13th. This fight between Genghis and five other larger children fueled the inferiority complex which drove him to conquer a continent.
Just goes to show that bullying isn't a new thing and can cause all kinds of trouble.
- Most skyscrapers do not include a thirteenth floor. Gregory Johnson bravely included a thirteenth floor in his designs for the Empire State Building in New York. Three days after its completion, on a Friday, the weight of the building caused it to buckle and it crushed the thirteenth floor. It has been structurally sound ever since.
Not numbering the 13th floor does not change the fact that it is still the 13th floor.
- In London’s summer of 1865, seven prostitutes, two flower sellers, three secretaries and a nun were assaulted on Friday July 13th by a crazy man wearing an athletic mask. The assailant would jump out of the shadows and present them with literature supporting the Conservative Party. As the women screamed and tried to run away, they were asked for donations repeatedly, up to 18 times in one case.
Due to two words in this one, I'll skip commenting, but boy did I have some good ones!
- In 1881, a group of New Yorkers started The 13 Club, aimed at removing the superstitious stigma from the number. At their first meeting on Friday the 13th, all thirteen members walked under a ladder into a room filled spilled salt and broken mirrors. They all died in a freak accident involving a runaway truck and a rabid wolverine on its way to be put down.
Just goes to show you can only push your luck so far.
- On Friday June 13th of 1952, Massachusetts Governor Kyle McArthur banned all private automotive transportation on the unlucky day. Nine overcrowded city buses crashed into each other in downtown Boston.
Maybe it was because it happened the day before my 2nd birthday. Makes as much sense. Besides, if it was become of the number 13, wouldn't it have been 13 overcrowded city buses that crashed?
- Billy Ray Cyrus, Bobby Brown, and Michael Bolton all released albums on Friday the 13th.
For fans of the above, I'll leave this one to you. ;)
Fear is the main source of superstition and one of the main sources of cruelty.
To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. - Bertrand Russell
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