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It was on a Friday that Jesus was crucified, and ever since, the day has been associated with "general ill omen," Michael Bailey, a history professor at Iowa State University who specializes in the origins of superstitions, tells USA TODAY Network.

In the Middle Ages, for instance, weddings were not held on Fridays; likewise, it was not a day someone would set out on a journey, Bailey says.

Friday was also unlucky in medieval times because it was "hangman's day," says Stuart Vyse, a psychology professor at Connecticut College, in an interview with USA TODAY Network.

A spokesman for Otis International, the elevator maker, once estimated that 85 percent of U.S. buildings with more than 13 floors skipped the unlucky number. Otis's current press office couldn't confirm that stat.

It actually stems from a very unusual phenomenon that happened back in the 5th century AD (I can't remember the actual year and am too lazy to google it, sorry). For thirteen consecutive days, there were only Fridays. People expecting to wake up the next morning and start their weekend found themselves obliged to go to work for almost two additional full weeks. People were exhausted, accidents were rife in the workplace, and as one Friday merged into another the general population became increasingly apprehensive. Anyway on day 14 Saturday finally arrived, but since then Friday the 13th has been considered unlucky due to its loose association (weekday + number) with what happened 1500 years ago.

Friday has been considered an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects at least since the 14th century, as witnessed by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. However, folklorists maintain that there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century. An early documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th:

He [Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday 13th of November he passed away.[7]

It's possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth,[8] 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.[4]

Other possible contributing factors include:

In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock day, the twelve deities of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, twelve signs of the Zodiac, the 12 years of the Chinese Buddhist cycle, etc. In contrast the number thirteen is considered irregular, transgressing this completeness.
According to biblical sources, Friday was the day on which Eve offered Adam the forbidden fruit and Jesus was crucified.
There is a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table results in the death of one of the diners.
On Friday, 13 October 1307, hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France by King Philip IV, possibly giving rise to the fear of a curse on that day. This connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and in John J. Robinson's 1989 work Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry, and also in the Maurice Druon historical novel series: "The Accursed Kings" (French: Les Rois Maudits). However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention.
Tuesday the 13th in Hispanic and Greek culture
In Spanish-speaking countries, instead of Friday, Tuesday the 13th (martes trece) is considered a day of bad luck. The Greeks also consider Tuesday (and especially the 13th) an unlucky day. Tuesday is considered dominated by the influence of Ares, the god of war. A connection can be seen in the etymology of the name in some European languages (Mardi in French or martes in Spanish). The fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade occurred on Tuesday, April 13, 1204, and the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans happened on Tuesday, 29 May 1453, events that strengthen the superstition about Tuesday. In addition, in Greek the name of the day is Triti (Τρίτη) meaning literally the third (day of the week), adding weight to the superstition, since bad luck is said to "come in threes".

Friday the 17th in Italy
In Italian popular culture, Friday the 17th (and not the 13th) is considered a day of bad luck. The origin of this belief could be traced in the writing of number 17, in ancient Latin: XVII. By shuffling the digits of the number one can easily get the word VIXI (I lived, hence now I'm dead) omen of bad luck.[citation needed] In fact, in Italy, 13 is generally considered a lucky number.However, due to Americanization, young people consider Friday the 13th unlucky as well.

The 2000 parody film Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth was released in Italy with the title Shriek – Hai impegni per venerdì 17? ("Shriek – Do You Have Something to Do on Friday the 17th?").

Milord wrote:

It was on a Friday that Jesus was crucified, and ever since, the day has been associated with "general ill omen," Michael Bailey, a history professor at Iowa State University who specializes in the origins of superstitions, tells USA TODAY Network.

In the Middle Ages, for instance, weddings were not held on Fridays; likewise, it was not a day someone would set out on a journey, Bailey says.

Friday was also unlucky in medieval times because it was "hangman's day," says Stuart Vyse, a psychology professor at Connecticut College, in an interview with USA TODAY Network.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... /10376945/

A spokesman for Otis International, the elevator maker, once estimated that 85 percent of U.S. buildings with more than 13 floors skipped the unlucky number. Otis's current press office couldn't confirm that stat.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... 3th-floor-

Note: Addresses and elevators now avoid the #4 in Toronto too. [Because of Chinese buying power for real estate.]

It actually stems from a very unusual phenomenon that happened back in the 5th century AD (I can't remember the actual year and am too lazy to google it, sorry). For thirteen consecutive days, there were only Fridays. People expecting to wake up the next morning and start their weekend found themselves obliged to go to work for almost two additional full weeks. People were exhausted, accidents were rife in the workplace, and as one Friday merged into another the general population became increasingly apprehensive. Anyway on day 14 Saturday finally arrived, but since then Friday the 13th has been considered unlucky due to its loose association (weekday + number) with what happened 1500 years ago.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/brai ... psychology


I guess we are still Pagans at heart.