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Everything You Should Know About Friday 13th

by Sabotage
13 June 2014 5 Comments

Forget Jason Vorhees, Friday 13th as a day has coughed up some horrible disasters, taken down a wannabe gangster and left the French in a continual dinner-based flux...

Don’t thank him, blame his acolytes…

Like most other inane concepts, the one surrounding Friday 13th being a day to be frightened of was perpetuated by the church. Christian dogma teaches that Cain slew Abel on a Friday the 13th and this fact alone sends millions of people batshit crazy with fear. In America, where over-reaction is the sixth sense, the economy loses nigh on one billion dollars whenever the day rolls around as people refuse to fly, go to work or even leave the house.

Yet although superstitions can easily be scoffed at, a disturbing amount of bad things have happened on the day that spawned ten million hockey masks. Here’s a few for you to digest as sit on that packed tube, ponder the 12 hour plane journey that you’re about to embark upon and wonder if you should swim when the red flag is up…

The beginning

Forget Cane and Abel, its a fairy tale. The Knights Templar, however, were as real as the sight of your ageing, sagging arse in the mirror. On Friday October 13 1307, thousands of the order were rounded up on the orders of the insane King Phiilip lV of France and tortured into admitting heresy, spitting on the cross and devil worship. What’s more, 6 years later on March 13 1314, Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was burned to death on a slow fire outside Notre Dame. As he roasted, he cursed King Phillip, Pope Clemence V and Prime Minister Guillame de Nogaret to death within a year. They all died, and the French have been running scared of the number ever since. In modern day Paris, diners can still hire quatorziemes (fourteens) to be professional guests to avoid having thirteen.

Destruction

Four of the worst disasters to strike on Friday 13th…

Friday 13 January 1939 - Australia

The Black Friday bushfires decimated 20,000 km² of land, killed 71 people and destroyed several towns entirely.

Friday 13 July 1951 - Kansas

‘The Great Flood’ left 2 million acres of land in Kansas underwater, caused $760 million and killed 24 people.

Friday November 13 1970 - Bangladesh

A monster storm South Asian storm kills 300,000 people in Chittagong and creates floods that kill one million people living on the Ganges Delta.

Infamous murderers Charles Manson, Harold Shipman, Frederick West, Saddam Hussein, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Theodore Bundy, and Jack the Ripper each have 13 letters in their names.

Friday July 31 1987 - Edmonton

An F4 tornado ripped through Edmonton, killing 27 people and injuring 300.

Gangsters

 

Not a great day for gangsters, real or wannabe. Al Capone was allegedly indicted on a Friday 13th in 1931 but with no exact date, this is probably one of many apocryphal tales surrounding the criminally insane bootlegger. Tupac Shakur, possibly one of the most over-rated artists in history, died on Friday 13 September 1996 several days after being shot four times in Las Vegas.

Friday 13th Facts.

Every month has a 13th but no single year has more than three Friday the 13th’s and on average there are two.

Months with a Friday the 13th always begin on a Sunday.

Folklore remedies for triskaidekaphobia include climbing to the top of a mountain or skyscraper and burning all the socks you own that have holes in them. Another is to stand on your head and eat a piece of gristle.

It is from the Norse goddess Frigg, or Freyja, that we get Frigg’s Day, or Freyja’s Day which became the English Friday.

Black Sabbath’s self-titled first album was released in the UK on Friday, February 13, 1970.

In a traditional hangman’s noose there are 13 twists of the rope and 13 steps to the gallows.

There is no 13th Avenue in San Francisco, instead Funston Avenue is between 12th and 14th Avenues. There is however a 13 Street. It’s covered by the Central Skyway making it one of the darkest and ugliest streets in San Francisco.

In Formula 1, there is no car with the number 13. The number has been removed after two drivers were killed in crashes — both driving cars numbered 13.

According to Dr. Donald Dossey, founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, more than 80% of high-rises lack a 13th floor.

Infamous murderers Charles Manson, Harold Shipman, Frederick West, Saddam Hussein, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Theodore Bundy, and Jack the Ripper each have 13 letters in their names.

Women drivers have a 64% increased chance of death when driving on Friday the 13th.

According to at least one interpretation of the Mayan calendar the world will end on 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0 or in the Gregorian calendar, Friday, October 13, 4772.

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image descriptionCOMMENTS

Claire 4:06 am, 6-Jun-2011

Knights Templar thing ain't true. The suspicion comes from a book written in the early 20th century. Moley was also killed on March 18th... and why on Earth would people remember the day of his *arrest* and not his death?

Tony 11:03 am, 13-Apr-2012

Jack The Ripper at 13 letters is a push but well done!

Melanie 3:35 am, 14-Apr-2012

My Mom died, and it was Good Friday. April 13, 2001 She would of been very happy to know she passed on Good Friday :)

atif 1:56 am, 15-Apr-2012

tupacs not over rated you dumb fuck

@Tommy_Fletch 4:31 pm, 30-Jun-2014

Tupac, overrated? Definitely not... That completely ruined this list for me, nob.

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