By the Numbers: Friday the 13th

Some date the superstition of Friday the 13th being unlucky all the way back to the Maundy Thursday Last Supper with 13 individuals and the crucifixion that took place the next day, Friday. Months that begin on Sundays will include Friday the 13th.

2

The number of Friday the 13ths in 2018 – April 13 and July 13.

3

The most Friday the 13ths that can happen in a given year. The last time this happened was in 2010 and the next time it will happen is 2026.

17

Friday the 17th is considered unlucky in Italy. It occurs whenever a month starts on a Wednesday.

90

The percentage of American skyscrapers that do not include a 13th floor, according to elevator manufacturer Otis Elevator Co.

212.35

The average number of days that pass between Friday the 13ths.

1869

The year of publication of Henry Sutherland Edwards’ biography of Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), who died on a Friday the 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.”

1881

The formation year of The Thirteen Club, a group dedicated to dispelling the notion that 13 is unlucky. The 13 club members spilled salt and walked under ladders at their first meeting.

1907

The year of publication of Thomas W. Lawson’s popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, which tells the story of a broker who takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on Friday the 13th.

1940

The year of the Friday the 13th bombing of Buckingham Palace by the Germans.

21 million

The high-end estimate of how many people in the U.S. are affected by fear of Friday the 13th. That fear has a name – paraskevidekatriaphobia.

1980

The year the slasher movie Friday the 13th was released. Made for $550,000, it grossed more than $39 million in the U.S. There have been nine sequels.

$900 million

The high-end estimate of lost business dollars in the U.S. on Friday the 13th because some people will not fly or do business on that day.

Sources:  history.com, Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute, nationalgeographic.com, superstitionsof.com, Otis Elevator Co.