Friday the 13th has long been considered among the unluckiest days in the year by Western culture. But how did it garner such a reputation?
We’re not entirely sure of the superstition’s origins, although some have theorized it stems back to Norse myth or biblical symbolism. Regardless, the seemingly arbitrary date has become entrenched in our minds and pop culture since the 19th century.
It’s even got an unwieldy term — paraskevidekatriaphobia — to describe the fear of Friday the 13th. Try putting that in a spelling bee.
Where did the Friday the 13th superstition come from?
Some have drawn parallels to the good book, specifically the last supper of Jesus Christ, when he dined with his 12 apostles on Maundy Thursday. Judas, the one who betrayed him, was the 13th guest at the table.
The very next day, on Good Friday, Jesus was crucified.
Others have noted the unlucky connotation of number 13 dates back to Norse mythology. In his book “Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things,” Charles Panati cites the story of the death of Balder — when Loki, god of mischief, intruded on a banquet of 12 gods, becoming the 13th attendee.
At this banquet, Loki tricked blind Höðr, the god of darkness, into shooting his brother Balder, the supposedly-unkillable god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. The plant turned out to be Balder’s sole weakness and killed him instantly.
Despite its ancient roots, it wasn’t until the 19th century that the specific date gained its reputation for misfortune. As CNN reports, the combination of Friday with the number 13 first emerged in the Victorian era.
Some have credited the date’s popularity with Capt. William Fowler, a high-profile soldier who sought to combat the stigma by establishing the Thirteen Club — an exclusive society that had its first meeting at a 13-seated table on Sept. 13, 1881. Four U.S. presidents would join the club at various points in their lives.
Friday the 13th in pop culture
Perhaps the first appearance of the date in popular culture emerged with the publication of Thomas W. Lawson’s popular novel “Friday, the Thirteenth” in 1907, in which a stock broker takes advantage of the superstition to crash the stock market.
Fast forward a couple decades to 1980, when the release of classic slasher film “Friday the 13th” introduced iconic goalie-mask adorned killer Jason Voorhees into the zeitgeist and further cemented the date in our collective conscious. The film inspired numerous sequels and multimedia spinoffs from comic books to video games.
The classic slasher film “Friday the 13th” introduced iconic goalie-mask adorned killer Jason Voorhees into the zeitgeist and further cemented the date in our collective conscious.Â
Today, Friday the 13th remains a fixture in pop culture. For pop megastar Taylor Swift, the date is cause not for dread but celebration — she was born on Dec. 13, and turned 35 on Friday. She and her fans have long celebrated the number as a sign of good luck, and the singer used to perform shows with 13 written on her hand.
“I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No. 1 song had a 13-second intro,” she said in a 2009 interview. “Every time I’ve won an award I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter.”
Is Friday the 13th really unlucky?
It depends who you are. If your name is Tupac Shakur, the date is indeed inauspicious — the legendary rap artist died on Friday, Sept. 13, 1996, six days after he was gunned down in Las Vegas.
He wasn’t the only celebrity to die on that date. Others include pulp crime writer Mickey Spillane (May 13, 1977), bandleader Benny Goodman (June 13, 1986), jazz trumpeter Chet Baker (May 13, 1988) and chef Julia Child (Aug. 13, 2004).
Meanwhile, a dubious 1993 study concluded the “risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident” may increase by as much as 52 per cent on Friday the 13th — although the authors themselves state the numbers are too small for any meaningful analysis.
But the unluckiest Friday the 13th of them all may be yet to come.Â
On April 13, 2029, asteroid 99942 Apophis is expected to come within less than 32,000 kilometres from Earth. A stroke of extreme bad luck might just lead to catastrophe — appropriate for the date’s fearsome reputation.
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