It’s Friday the 13th, people – a date roundly considered desperately unlucky and what’s more, it’s a full moon.
(Translation: You will turn into a beautiful, lustrously maned werewolf and then be unceremoniously run over by a bin truck.)
The last time Friday the 13th occurred in tandem with the full moon was back in 2000, and it’s not set to manifest again until 2049.
Friday The 13th - Unlucky For Some?
It's in the cards(01 of13)
Open Image ModalTarot Card number 13 is the Death Card, depicting the Grim Reaper. (credit:AP)
No room in the inn(02 of13)
Open Image ModalHospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13. (credit:AP)
On the street(03 of13)
Open Image ModalMany cities don't have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. This city tempted fate. (credit:AP)
Blame your parents(04 of13)
Open Image ModalIf you have 13 letters in your name, you're said to have the devil's luck. Like, this guy (Charles Manson). (credit:AP)
Checking in(05 of13)
Open Image ModalMany airports skip the 13th gate. (credit:AP)
Aisle omission(06 of13)
Open Image ModalAirplanes have no 13th aisle. (credit:AP)
Numero...?(07 of13)
Open Image ModalItalians omit the number 13 from their national lottery. (credit:AP)
Unlucky height(08 of13)
Open Image ModalMore than 80% of high rises lack a 13th floor (credit:AP)
One solution(09 of13)
Open Image ModalOn streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half. (credit:AP)
Hangman's noose(10 of13)
Open Image ModalTraditionally in hangings, there are 13 knots in the noose and 13 steps leading up to the moment of death. (credit:Flickr: Snap®)
Dinner luck(11 of13)
Open Image ModalFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy may know that in France, socialites called quatorziens (fourteeners) make themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate. (credit:AP)
Space travel(12 of13)
Open Image ModalMany say the No. 13 pointed to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13. (credit:AP)
Ancient ties(13 of13)
Open Image ModalSome say that the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (circa 1780 B.C.E.) is to blame for the No. 13 woes since the 13th law is omitted. (credit:AP)
The event is such a rarity because it occurs only when three independent variables line up – the moon phase, the weekday and the day of the month. (It’s a simple case of arithmetic, says Vox, and they’ve helpfully done the math for you here.)
Fear of Friday the 13th is known as friggatriskaidekaphobia (named after "Frigg", the Norse goddess whom Friday is named after and "triskaidekaphobia" meaning the fear of "13".)
Superstition says it’s the unluckiest day of the year and is generally regarded as an unsuitable day to undertake journeys or begin new projects.
Among the tragedies to befall this day were the bombing of Buckingham Palace on September 13, 1940, as part of Hitler's strategic "Blitz" bombing campaign.
November 13 1970 (also a Friday) saw a massive storm kill around 300,000 people in Bangladesh, with subsequent floods killing as many as a million in the Ganges Delta.
Have you ever had an unlucky event befall you on this date? Tell us about it in comments below.
Our Moon
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