For some people 13 is a number avoided year round. Others limit their fear to a handful of times a year when Fridays and the number 13 collide.
But what is it about that day, falling on that number that makes some people so irrationally anxious?
As it turns out the number 13 has been a sign of bad luck in Western culture since the beginning of Western culture.
The superstition has embedded itself so deep in Western society that 80% of high-rise buildings do not have a 13th floor, according to National Geographic. Hotels routinely skip over Room 13. Some airports don’t have a Gate 13 or a row 13 in seating.
Author Stephen King, who made a career writing about what scares us, has admitted he has a severe fear of the number 13.
So much so, he will keep writing if a page number is 13 or a multiple of 13, and when reading he avoids stopping on a page whose number add up to 13.
Here are some things that you might not know about the lore surrounding the date with the worst reputation.
How often is there a Friday the 13th and why the next three-peat isn’t for 11 years
In the Gregorian calendar, there is at least once month each year when the 13th day falls on a Friday.
But it can appear up to three times in the same year, which happened in 2026. The next time won’t be until 2037.
The rare three Friday the 13 appearances also occurred in 2015 and 2012, which happened to be the same year the Mayan calendar’s 13th Baktun ended, prompting apocalyptic predictions.
This year Friday the 13th fell in February, March and November. Back-to-back months with a Friday the 13th happen only once every 11 years. Weirder still, the months are always either February and March or March and April.
For a consecutive Friday the 13th, a 31-day month must be followed by a month that started on a Wednesday. or a 28/29 day month, followed by a month starting on a Thursday.
Fear of Friday the 13: Triskaidekaphobia vs. paraskevidekatriaphobia
Extreme fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia. Fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia.
In other words, most people with triskaidekaphobia also experience paraskevidekatriaphobia.
Estimates suggest that 17 to 21 million people in the U.S. experience paraskevidekatriaphobia, according to historical data from defunct the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina
About 10% of Americans — also roughly 17 to 21 million — report feeling uncomfortable or superstitious about the number 13, but for most it’s a mild anxiety rather than a disabling clinical phobia, according to Study.com
A formal clinical diagnosis of triskaidekaphobia is relatively rare, as it requires that the fear significantly impairs a person’s daily life or functioning, according to Medical News Today.
Who are other famous people who experienced triskaidekaphobia
Franklin D. Roosevelt: The late U.S. President reportedly refused to travel on the 13th of any month and he avoided hosting dinner parties with 13 guests.
Winston Churchill: The former British Prime Minster reportedly refused to sit in row 13 of the theater or on airplanes.
Napoleon Bonaparte: The French military and political leader is frequently cited in cultural histories as superstitious about the number 13.
Herbert Hoover: The late U.S. President is noted in historical records as avoiding the number 13.
Ariana Huffington: The American columnist and media entrepreneur reportedly avoids scheduling big events on the 13th of the month.
J.K. Rowling: The British author of the “Harry Potter” series has admitted she is a bit uneasy around the number 13, especially on Fridays.
Christopher Nolan: The Academy Award-winning director and producer structured his 2010 sci-fi thriller “Inception” with 12 dream layers, famously saying that 13 “just didn’t feel right.”
Why Fridays are associated with with catastrophic bad luck?
Fridays reputation as an unlucky day is a biblical concept that predates the Good Friday crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Friday is said to be the day that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge; the day the Temple of Solomon was toppled; Cain killed his brother Abel on Friday, and the day Noah’s ark set sail in the Great Flood.
But no historical record exists that definitively connects Fridays and 13 as a bad luck combination before the 19th century.
How did the number 13 get a bad reputation?
One theory holds that the number became associated with bad luck after the solar calendar replaced the lunar calendar, which the ancient Egyptians probably did around 2050 BC.
The oldest known negative reference to 13 is found in the Mesopotamian Code of Hammurabi, a Babylonian code of law that dates to approximately 1760 BC. The laws are numbered, but number 13 is omitted.
But the negativity with 13 is more commonly linked to the early Christians because the number appears in certain Biblical traditions.
Jesus Christ’s betrayer Judas was believed to be the 13th Apostle to join the table at the Last Supper. More than 100 Knights of the Templar — a large organization of devout Christians during the medieval era — were believed to have been tortured and later killed by King Philip IV of France on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307.
In Norse mythology, which spans 790-1100 AD, Loki is believed to be the 13th god who showed up uninvited to the Banquet of Valhalla and gave a spear to the brother of the god Baldr, who then accidentally killed him, sending the earth into darkness.
Are mishaps more likely to happen on Friday the 13th?
On Friday, March 13, 2020, the U.S. declared national emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic leading to months-long shutdowns and millions of deaths. But like most negative things connected to the date it’s a coincidence.
A 1993 retrospective study in the British Medical Journal that attracted attention concluded that the risk of hospital admission as a result of a traffic accident may be increased up to 52 percent on Friday the 13th, though there were consistently “fewer” vehicles on the road on Friday the 13th, than Friday the 6th.
The study also noted that “the numbers of admissions from accidents are too small to allow meaningful analysis.”
Subsequent research has disproved correlations between Friday the 13th and accident rates, including a 2008 study from the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics. It found that “fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft” occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are more careful or stay home.
But stay tuned.
NASA is predicting Friday, April 13, 2029 is when an asteroid the size of three football fields named Apophis will pass close enough to earth that under the right sky conditions it will be visible without a telescope in parts of Europe, Africa and western Asia.
The space agency is confident the potentially hazardous asteroid has zero risk of impact with the earth — at least for the next 100 years.
What do numerologists say about the number 13?
Some people believe 13 is unlucky because it falls after the 12, a so-called “perfect” number, think 12 months in a year, 12 apostles, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 hours on a clock.
In numerology, thirteen is a master number meaning it carries heightened vibrations and the potential for intense spiritual change. The number is also associated with obstacles, change and growth, leading to new beginnings and spiritual insight.
Thirteen is considered a catalyst for breaking free from old patterns and embracing new opportunities and positive outlooks, which are good things.
