Superstitious people fear Friday the 13th

Today is Friday the 13th. Superstitious people are afraid of this day. They see it as a day of bad luck. Some don’t even want to leave their house so nothing can happen to them.

The number 13 is known as a fatal number. In some cultures, hotels and hospitals don’t have room number 13, buildings don’t have a 13th floor, and planes don’t have a row 13.

Thirteen is above the symbolic number of 12. In former cultures, 12 played an important role. There are 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 months, 12 prophets and 12 apostles. But at the Last Supper, 13 apostles sat together, and Judas, the 13th in the round, betrayed Jesus.

Why is Friday so dangerous? According to some traditions, it has to do with Christianity. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Ever since, Friday was known as a day of mourning and fasting.

Others believe media helped to create this fear for Friday the 13th. The crash of stock exchange happened on Friday the 13th in May 1927, also known as Black Friday. The unsuccessful moon flight of Apollo 13 started at 13:13 on a Friday.

Some big names of world history avoided the thirteenth: Napoleon never led a fight on the thirteenth; Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of the German Empire, did not sign any contracts that day; Henry Ford never worked on Friday the 13th; and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt never sat at a dinner table with 13 guests.

The year 2017 has one more Friday the 13th in October.