Today’s Weekly Calendar Fun Fact:
Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th. Famous sufferers include: Franklin Roosevelt, Napoléon Bonaparte, Herbert Hoover and Stephen King.
The fear of Friday the 13th is known as paraskavedekatriaphobia. It is an offshoot of triskaidekaphobia, which is the unnatural terror of the number 13. The 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt was one of the greatest sufferers of these phobias. He never traveled on the 13th day of the month, never lit 3 cigarettes and would never have 13 guests at his dinner table.
Millions of people around the world are horrified by the number 13 and associate it with bad luck or danger. They avoid staying in hotel rooms bearing the number 13 and will even avoid using a thirteenth step. Many airlines and hotels do not offer a 13th aisle or floor because customers believe it to be a harbinger of bad things to come and will refuse to use the plane or stay in that building. Stephen King has the phobia so bad that he refuses to stop reading on any page that has the number 13 in it or adds up to a combination of 13, such as page 94. While he understands it’s a phobia, he claims following these rituals is just safer.
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To learn why Friday the 13th is considered unlucky, check out the video below.
Friday the 13th Info Vid Provided By DreamWorks TV
Great, I like it !!!
Thanks! We definitely thought that it would be a pretty neat fun fact on our weekly calendar. There were things I learned from the vid that I never knew about Friday the 13th!
OMG… that is so awesome! I had no idea it was because of executions in Europe! The more you know, I guess. LOL
Right? I never knew that either but it makes so much sense when you think about it. There are so many things still in our culture that came from something so simple back then.