September 13: On This Day in World History … briefly
According to an American survey, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of Friday the 13th, making it the most feared day and date in history.
Possible origins of ‘triskaidekaphobia’ – the fear of Friday the 13th
The irrational fear of the number 13 has been given a scientific name: ‘triskaidekaphobia’ – and on analogy to this the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví (meaning ‘Friday’), and dekatreís (meaning ‘thirteen’). The superstition surrounding this day may have arisen in the Middle Ages, ‘originating from the story of Jesus’s last supper and crucifixion’ in which there were 13 individuals present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday. While there is evidence of both Friday and the number 13 being considered unlucky, there is no record of the two items being referred to as especially unlucky in conjunction before the 19th century.
Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year, for example in 2015, the 13th fell on a Friday in February, March, and November. In 2016, Friday the 13th occurred in May. In 2017, it occurred twice, in January and October. In 2018, it also occurred twice, in April and July. There will be two Friday the 13ths every year until 2020. The years 2021 and 2022 will have just one occurrence each. A Friday the 13th occurs during any month that begins on a Sunday.
It is possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W Lawson’s popular novel ‘Friday, the Thirteenth’, contributed to disseminating the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th. One suggested origin of the superstition: Friday, October 13, 1307, the date Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar – may not have been formulated until the 20th century. It is mentioned in the 1955 Maurice Druon historical novel The Iron King (Le Roi de fer), John J Robinson’s 1989 work ‘Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry’, Dan Brown’s 2003 novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and Steve Berry’s ‘The Templar Legacy’ (2006).
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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