Friday the 13th. The very mention of it makes some people want to stay in bed all day, where it's "safe." Others will brag about how it doesn't bother them. They aren't even paying attention; they are just going about their day. Then there are those who will say they don't pay attention, but will give an extra rub of that rabbit's foot on their key ring when no one is looking. You know, just in case. But where does all of this, to use a modern-day phrase, "misinformation" about a day on the calendar that just happens to be the thirteenth day of any given month come from? From a lot of places.
it’s Friday the 13th. i rebuke any bad luck, news or negative energy. Happy Friday !!!
— y (@ysuckme) March 13, 2026
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Friday the 13th has its roots in religion. In Christianity, the number 13 is associated with the Last Supper, attended by Jesus and his twelve disciples. But there was one guest, the thirteenth guest, Judas Iscariot, who is said to have betrayed Jesus, who was ultimately crucified on a Friday. In Norse mythology, twelve gods are attending a banquet at Valhalla when Loki, the trickster god of mischief and deception, shows up uninvited, also becoming a thirteenth guest, and tricks the god Hod, who is blind, into shooting his brother, Balder, god of light and goodness, with an arrow.
Fast forward to the late 19th century, when William Fowler, a Union Captain during the Civil War, decided he would attempt to erase some of the bad vibes surrounding Friday the 13th. He founded the "Thirteen Club." It was made up of 13 of society's elites, who would later include Presidents. The first meeting was held on Friday, January 13, 1882, at 8:13 p.m. Subsequent meetings would be held on the 13th of each month. They met in room 13 of the Knickerbocker Cottage in New York City, where they had a 13-course meal. Before each meeting, members would poke fun at a Friday the 13th superstition by walking under a ladder with a banner that read, “Morituri te Salutamus” (Latin: “Those of us who are about to die salute you”).
It's #Friday13th...yikes!
— 💓 MsBetty-Boop 💓 (@Ms_Betty_Bop) March 13, 2026
Don't tell anyone, but I'm very superstitious & won't be going outside today unless I have to! 🤫
Stay safe everyone! 🤗#MAGA#REDFriday
Today is Friday the 13th. Take Care. – Sheridan Media https://t.co/PD1EpQhMIz
The fact that some horrific events have taken place on Friday the 13th has not helped its reputation. Events such as the German bombing of Buckingham Palace in September 1940, a cyclone that killed 300,000 people in Bangladesh in November 1970, and the murders of Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York, in March 1964 and Tupac Shakur in September 1996.
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However, pop culture has been good to Friday the 13th. There is, of course, the "Friday the 13th" movie franchise, the first of which was released in 1980. How many kids have spent Halloween night donning old-school hockey masks dressed as Friday the 13th killer Jason? There are also the superstitions. Besides the aforementioned ladder, crossing paths with a black cat (my dog is black, does that count?), and breaking mirrors that some will swear they avoid at all costs on this day that has its own psychological meaning, and Triskaidekaphobia, an irrational fear of the number 13.
So far this year, we have had back-to-back Friday the 13th's. In February and today, and we have one more in November. Depending on the outcome of the midterm elections, that might end up being very appropriate.
Good morning, it's Friday the 13th.
— Diana Dukic (@diana_dukic) December 13, 2024
Just warning you before you make any weekend plans at wood cabins by a lake.
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