Friday the 13th is considered an unfortunate day of Western superstition. People are afraid that some accident or bad luck may happen to them on that day. This widespread superstition could date back to the Middle Ages and even have a biblical basis. There were 13 people in the New Testament who talk about Jesus’s last sufferings on Good Thursday, the day before the crucifixion of Christ on Good Friday. Some historians claim that this was the day when Eve led Adam to bite the apple.
It is the overall assumption that the panic around that day was created in 1927, when the second biggest stock market crash occurred. Business failures and bankruptcies have made desperate brokers throw themselves through the windows of a building on Wall Street. Since there were many of them, it is believed that the other people who walked next to the building were not safe. Since then, that day created fear in the Americans again, and skepticism spread to the rest of the world, mostly to Europe, where Friday the 13th soon became synonymous with misfortune and bad luck as well.
Number 13 was considered unlucky even before Christ. Historical number 12 was considered complete, ie it signified perfection, while 13 disturbed the natural harmony: there are 12 Olympic gods, 12 months of the year, 12 apostles, 12 descendants of Muhammad, 12 hours on the clock, 12 zodiac signs…
In many western countries, there is no 13th floor in tall buildings. Houses also often do not have the number 13, as many hotels (such as Carlton in London that does not have the 13th floor). It is also considered unfortunate if 13 people have dinner together, and this belief was established by the President of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt. He refused to travel on Friday the 13th as well, he hated that day.