Happy Friday the 13th
from AntBlog701

Happy Friday the 13th

It is said: If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names). There are 13 witches in a coven.

Anything special today? I am not superstitious, but it's fun to talk about this unlucky day. Why is it unlucky? I don't know. Historically, the number 13 has something to do with Christian or witches, and people don't it. It has always been considered as a bad number. Let's take a look:

In 1453, Byzantine Empire (Christian Eastern Roman) centred in Constantinople to the Turks.
13 people attended the Last Supper, according to the Bible.
As mentioned in the quote above, there are 13 witches in a coven.

As for Fridays... Christian tradition has something to do with it as well, such as the Crucifixion, Eve's offering the apple to Adam in the Garden of Eden, the beginning of the Great Flood, or the confusion at the Tower of Babel.

And there are a number of Black Fridays in history. The famous one includes the Wall Street Crash of 1929 (29th Oct 1929), Fisk-Gould Scandal (1869, a financial panic in the States.)

What should you avoid if you are superstitious.

don't change your bed, don't travel, don't give birth, don't get married, don't move, don't start a new job...

If you are a Sunrise viewer, you might know that the Sunrise team enjoy playing Photoshop. Here's today's Sunrise Family in Addams style.

Anyhow, have a safe and happy Friday the Thirteenth.

Resources of this blog entry and for more information:
First quote is taken from Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky - Friday 13th Origins, History (About.com)
A World of Luck (Friday the 13th) (snopes.com)
Friday the Thirteenth (Red Chaim HaQoton)
Halloween Fonts (can be used for Friday the 13th)