13 facts about Friday the 13th

The following originally appeared in The Argonaut on Friday, October 13, 2006.

1. Treiskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. From treis (three) + kai and + deka (ten) with the Latin phobia (fear). This is also sometimes referred to as tredecaphobia. 2. Paraskevidekatriaphobia, a term coined by psychotherapist Dr. Donald Dossey, is the specific fear of Friday the 13th. 3. In an August 12, 2004, “National Geographic” article, Dr. Dossey stated that more than 80 percent of American high-rises do not have a 13th floor, airports do not have gates numbered 13 and hospitals lack rooms with that number. 4. These fears go back to ancient beliefs. One is from Norse mythology. The myth concerns the gathering of 12 gods in Valhalla. Loki, the uninvited 13th guest, arrives and wreaks havoc, causing a dark day on Earth. 5. Many point to the beginnings of Christianity for their fear. The Last Supper had 13 guests and Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Some are quick to point out that everywhere Jesus went with his disciples, there were 13 of them. 6. In the book “Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim’s Route Into Spain,” author Jack Hitt relates another tale of the bad luck origins of Friday the 13th. The tale revolves around an excommunicated French king in the early 14th century. The king mails out orders to all the bailiffs of France, but told them they could not open them until the evening of Oct. 12, a Thursday. The orders were to jail every member of the Knights Templar in France and seize anything of value. Those who resisted were to be killed. The orders were carried out on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307. 7. Bad luck can come with the number of letters in one’s name. Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert DeSalvo each have 13 letters. So does Jack the Ripper, although that name is a creation of the 1888 London newspapers. 8. Only five of the 11 “Friday the 13th” films take place on Friday the 13th. 9. Horror author Stephen King is an admitted triskaidekaphobe. His April 12, 1984, New York Times article explains why and includes versions of various origin stories. 10. The most Friday the 13ths possible in any given year is three. 2006 has two, January and October. The last year with three was 1998. The next is 2009, with the dreaded date occurring in February, March and November. 11. The Apollo 13 mission was launched on April 11, 1970. Many saw this 13th mission to the moon as bad luck, but April 13th that year was on a Monday. Then again, that was the day things went wrong. 12. University of Idaho sophomore Aimee Goss wears No. 13 for the soccer team. While she was injured in Sunday’s game, the number had nothing to do with it, she said. “I never thought of it before. I wore the number last year and many times in the past. If I did pick something else, it would be totally different, like 4 or 9.” Four and nine add up to 13. 13. According to NASA, a meteor 320 meters wide will pass within 18,600 miles of Earth’s surface. This will occur on April 13, 2029. Yes, that is a Friday.