Why is Friday the 13th unlucky?with scientific research

TextFriday the 13th has traditionally been when the superstitious take extra care and double check everything they do.

Now experts at the Glasgow Science Centre are looking into the global phenomenon to determine if there is any science behind the superstitions.

news.bbc.co.uk...

This is an interesting read for you on this Friday the 13th

[edit on 13-11-2009 by genius/idoit]

reply to post by genius/idoit


Friday the 13th is unlucky because on that date, 60+ Knights Templar plus their grand master Jaque De Molay were arrested.

[edit on 13-11-2009 by alyosha1981]

I Just Got My H1N1 Shot !!! About an hour ago..

Picked the perfect day... you know if something goes wrong just blame it on the date ;-)




[edit on 13-11-2009 by xXGrimSlayerXx]

As alyosha1981 said above, Friday 13th is the day King Phillip IV carried out the arrests of hundreds of Knights Templar on charges of heresy, blasphemy, and homosexual acts. That is what I have read anyway as being the reason attributed to the "bad luck" associated with Friay 13th.

Friday the 13 is my lucky day ... I was born on a friday 13 .... and it was also the holy friday ... strange cosmic event ... won't happen again until I'm 63 if I remember well ...

Cheers to you all on this friday the 13th ....

"Jaques DeMolay, thou art avenged!"
(A purported cry from the crowd upon the beheading of Louis XIV)

depends on if u believe fri 13th is unlucky or not. China for example dont regard 13 as unlucky but do view the number 7 as unlucky. And if you got your head screwd on you know that unlucky days are only in the persons mind.

i always thought it was a lucky day most of the luckiest things have happened to me on Friday the 13th i found a 20 dollar bill once another year i saved a old lady from getting hit by a car so i don't see ware all the bad luck people keep talking about

Everyday of my life seems unlucky.
No,Maybe every day is lucky.
I guess it's all how you look at it.

reply to post by genius/idoit


its not its just deamed unlucky because friday the 13th in i cant remember what year theat the french king deicided he wanted the templars dead and thier wealth to him self read your history

The explanation I've always read is that it relates to the events at the end of the gospels.

Jesus ate the Last Supper with the twelve disciples, making 13, and was then crucified on Friday.
The old superstition that "If there are thirteen people at the table, it is unlucky to be the first one to leave" is supposed to be related to Judas.

It would certainly account for the "Friday" element, but I'm sure the taboo against "13" is much older than that. I think it has something to do with "12" being a good number over much of the ancient world, so that "13" adds something which is surplus to requirements.

I found a few interesting things on wikipedia about Friday 13th.

Rate of accidents
There are conflicting studies about the risk of accidents on Friday the 13th. The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) on June 12, 2008, stated that "fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home. Statistically speaking, driving is slightly safer on Friday the 13th, at least in the Netherlands; in the last two years, Dutch insurers received reports of an average 7,800 traffic accidents each Friday; but the average figure when the 13th fell on a Friday was just 7,500. However, a 1993 study in the British Medical Journal that compared the ratio of traffic accidents between Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th stated that there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents on Friday the 13th. There are indications that there are more accidents on Fridays than average weekdays (irrespective of the date) probably because of alcohol consumption. Therefore it is less relevant for this purpose to compare Friday the 13th with, say, Tuesday the 13th.

LINK: en.wikipedia.org...

Also came across this to, 2012 is the only leap year with three occurrences of Friday the 13th, each three months apart: in January, April, and July.

[edit on 9/8/10 by boo1981]

The real question that should be asked here is not whether Friday the 13th is unlucky but why "professional scientists" apparently have nothing more meaningful to do or genuinely important research to conduct. Instead they waste time and resources on ridiculous research such as the following:

Now experts at the Glasgow Science Centre are looking into the global phenomenon to determine if there is any science behind the superstitions.

and

GSC's senior science co-ordinator Andy Laing looked into how, scientifically, umbrellas may actually be unlucky.

So, is Andy Laing now telling us that the concept of "good luck and bad luck" now has a scientific basis behind it ? Bollocks !

[edit on 9/8/10 by tauristercus]

Saw this post and skimmed over wikipedia's entry.

A good point is its number theme is inclemented from 12, dozen. 12 is within time (hours), lunar calendar, the Christian 'Last Supper' (12 members); and 13 "throws" this completeness.

Friday is associated with the time frame of many bad news scenes. A lot of market crashes occured on 'Black Friday'. And, authors have promoted this scene in several tales.

Some also state a 'qualified' hangman's noose has 13 loops around the neck piece. And, 13 steps on the gallows.


[edit on 8/9/2010 by passingthought]

My birthday 13th August happens to fall on Friday this week, but whenever it falls on a Friday I just have a great day! better than usual ><

Originally posted by JJBB22
My birthday 13th August happens to fall on Friday this week, but whenever it falls on a Friday I just have a great day! better than usual ><

Its my daughters birthday this friday too.

I love friday the 13th its my lucky day always... And I also have a giant black cat who is my lucky charm. I'm actually serious I have such bad luck throughout the year that bad luck cancels out on Friday the 13th, same with my cat. Best Friday the 13th I won free tickets to a hockey playoffs game.