Friday The 13th 2018: Trivia Facts, Myths, Superstitions About The Unlucky Day

friday-13th — James Forder poses as Jason, from "Friday the 13th," outside the MCM Comic Con at the Excel Centre in East London, Oct. 25, 2014. Reuters

The unluckiest day in the Western calender, Friday the 13th, is here. This is the first Friday the 13th of 2018, and the second and the last one for the year will come in July. Below are some facts, myths and superstitions about this date.

1. The fear of Friday the 13th is known as friggatriskaidekaphobia which is also called paraskavedekatriaphobia.

2. This day has been a widespread success for the movie industry as the “Friday the 13th” horror film franchise, which kicked off in 1980, has got up to 12 sequels.

3. While many believe something bad happens on this date, many also mark this day by watching a horror movie or sharing spooky stories with each other.

4. The number 13 is considered lucky by Italians.

5. While the origin of this day is unclear, superstitions surrounding the number 13 date back to at least 1700 BC. In the ancient Babylon's Code of Hammurabi, dating to about 1772 BC, the number 13 is omitted in the list of laws.

6. Not only the number 13, but the day, Friday, also has a longstanding stigma in some Christian circles.

7. There's a superstition that if 13 people dine together, it would result in the death of one of them within a year. This originated from both the Last Supper, when Jesus dined with the 12 Apostles prior to his death, and a popular Norse myth, in which 11 close friends of the god Odin dine together only to have the 12-person party crashed by a 13th person, Loki, the god of evil and turmoil.

8. Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt never had a 13th guest at a meal. He also would not travel on the 13th, no matter the day of the week it fell on.

9. The first recorded reference in English of Friday the 13th is in Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rissini, where Edwards writes: "Rossini was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky."

10. There is a myth that says starting a trip on Friday could make someone encounter misfortune.