Personally, I feel as though Friday is the best day of the week. Surely takes the win over a Monday. However, tomorrow is a rare exception in which most people will use extra caution in fear of strange happenings or ill-fated circumstances. Friday the 13th has long been believed to be a particularly unlucky day. It is one of the most widespread superstitions in the United States which originated from many various legends and tales. For centuries it has been referred to as the day prone to bad luck, misfortune, and even death. The deadliest associations with number 13 are the facts that there are 13 stairs leading to the gallows, the blade in a guillotine fell from a height of 13 feet and a hangman has 13 knots in a hangman’s noose. Amazingly enough 21 million Americans and 60 million people worldwide suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia, the irrational fear of Friday the 13th. Some are so afraid, they won’t go to work, drive in cars, or even get out of bed on that day. Unfortunately for them, this year there will be three occurrences of Friday the 13th, each also being exactly 13 weeks apart.

The superstition is so extreme that many cities do not have a 13th Street or 13th Avenue, hospitals do not have a room number 13, airports do not have a gate 13, and many buildings do not have a 13th floor. In fact, 90% of American skyscrapers do away with floor number 13, according to reports by the Otis Elevator Company, the world’s largest elevator manufacturers. The number 13 is often thought of as one more than complete, as there are 12 months in a year, 12 in a dozen, 12 hours on a clock, and 12 zodiac signs. Also, legend has it that if you change your bed on a Friday it will bring bad dreams. Any baby born on Friday the 13th will be unlucky for life. If 13 people are invited to dinner, one will die within the year. Even Franklin Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States, would never host a dinner party of 13, nor travel on the 13th. Supposedly if you begin a trip on a Friday, you will encounter misfortune along the way. These are just a few of the several superstitions pertaining to the foolish fear of Friday the 13th. However, whatever your beliefs may be, we wish you courage to face the day and luck along the way!