Friday the 13th, why is it unlucky?

When we hear this date Friday the 13^th, the first picture comes in our mind is the famous horror series. Yes, I have seen the movie and it is seriously thrilling.

You must have also heard that most of the buildings in Europe do not have the 13^th floor, even if it is a 15 floor building. We have recently noticed the same practice in India. Most of the buildings built in last decade in India do not have 13^th floor.

There is a word attached to this date, which is Friggatriskaidekaphobia. It means fear from Friday the 13^th.

But what is the problem with this number 13? Why is it so unlucky?

The answer lies there in history, resting for almost 400 years.

The most famous reference of the date Friday the 13^th is 13 October 1307.

Historically there is no horror incident attached with this date. But as per the historical text, on 13 October 1307 the King Philip IV captured almost all leaders of Knights Templar. This was officially the last day of one of the wealthiest organizations in the world at that time.

Knights Templar was the first organization which has multinational banking system. Pilgrims used to deposit their money in one country and they can take money back from other country. They also used to provide loans to big kings and also military support. The group was initially formed to protect pilgrims coming to Jerusalem from other parts of the world. But very soon they became one of the most powerful and wealthiest organizations with multinational presence.

But strangely, the calendar we follow today shows 13^th October 1307 was actually Thursday not Friday. Not sure why. May something wrong with the calendar at that time.

If you will turn more pages from history, there is very interesting information available about the Knights Templar.  But we are not going so deep in history right now.

There is one more reference available for number 13, which is in the most famous painting of all time. “The Last Supper” painted by the most famous painter and scientist of 15^th century, Leonardo da Vinci. Yes, I know he was a painter but there are some references available in history about his amazing inventions and weapons designed by him as well.

In the “The Last Supper” there are 13 people in the painting and that was the last day Jesus spent with his 12 disciples. He was arrested on the same night and one of his disciple Judas betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 silver coins that day . So this day is also considered as unlucky day. Some people believe that when Jesus was crucified, it was also the 13^th day of the month. But no documented proofs available to support this believe.

After all these information you now know that there is nothing wrong with having 13^th floor in the building. But still it’s upto you if you feel comfortable in living in flat number 1307 or not.

And just for the information, 13^th day of the month comes on Friday at least once every year but can occur upto three times in the same year.

There is no serious incident reported on this date in modern history. At least not in last 400 years.

By: Sagar Srivastava