Friday the 13th

It was a great TV series from Canada and a few good slasher films. But is Friday the 13th really unlucky? From KETV in Omaha:

But wait a minute. These misfortunes happen all the time. It's usually only a couple of times a year that we can blame our everyday woes on that dreaded day: Friday the 13th.

Then there's this article in The Independent of London:

Bolt the doors, toss salt over your left shoulder and rub your lucky rabbit's foot - today is Friday the 13th. A child born today is doomed to misfortune, and parents must make all efforts to conceal the date of birth. You shouldn't date or marry, move home or job, or feed anyone eggs laid this morning. And for goodness sake don't get your hair cut or a family member will die. For many, the mythology of misfortune surrounding this supposed unluckiest day is bunkum. But across the globe there are an estimated five million sufferers of paraskevidekatriaphobia - fear of Friday the 13th - and they are in good company. Among those to have shared this superstitious dread are Napoleon, Mark Twain, Herbert Hoover and Winston Churchill. Franklin D Roosevelt cancelled appointments on the offending day and wouldn't sit at tables of 13 people. Indeed, he carried his phobia to the grave, passing away minutes before midnight on Thursday 12 April 1945. The origins of the myth are confused. One theory brings the Last Supper and its 13 guests (including Judas Iscariot) together with Christ's subsequent crucifixion on a Friday. Other biblical events thought to have occurred on a Friday are Eve's temptation of Adam, the Great Flood and the destruction of the Temple of Solomon. In pagan Rome, Friday was execution day - and later hangman's day in Britain, where it was known as the "witches' sabbath" in the Middle Ages. The earliest documentary evidence that Friday was thought unlucky comes from Chaucer, who wrote in The Nun's Priest's Tale: "And on a Friday fil al this meschaunce."

There's also a nice roundup of 13 examples of 13's unluckiness. Click on the article to read more. Knock wood, I'm having a great day and am above believing in superstitious nonsense.