It's Friday the 13th. What could possibly go wrong? Well, it’s a long story.
The fear of Friday the 13th, the date of myths, urban legends, and Hollywood movies, has been around not just decades, but centuries. According to The Telegraph, this is the second Friday the 13th in 2018, with the first one occurring in April without much catastrophe.
Why has Friday the 13th become what many consider the unluckiest day of the year?
According to The Express, the fear of Friday the 13th, or the number 13 in general, dates back to ancient Babylon 4,000 years ago, when people saw 12 as an auspicious number because it was divisible by 2,3, 4 and 6. That mathematical harmony, though, was disrupted by 13.
Norse mythology claimed that Loki arrived as the 13th guest at a Valhalla banquet, ending in the death of Baldur. The Norse also equated Frigga, who Friday was named after, with sorcery, the Express said.
Christianity also aided in the Friday the 13th fear, linking that it was 13 people who attended the Last Supper of Jesus Christ and that his crucifixion happened on a Friday.
History.com noted that Friday also was said to be the day Eve gave Adam the fateful apple from the Tree of Knowledge, as well as the day Cain killed his brother, Abel.
The ancient Code of Hammurabi reportedly omitted a 13th law from its list of legal rules. While some suggested it was a clerical error, others charged that it was proof of 13's longstanding negative associations.
Some point to more recent events for their fear of Friday the 13, like the German bombing of Buckingham Palace in September 1940, a cyclone that killed 300,000 people in Bangladesh in November 1970, the disappearance of a Chilean Air Force plane in 1972, rapper Tupac Shakur's death in September 1996 and the wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia of the coast of Italy, killing 30 people, in 2012, History.com said.
The Paris terror attack that left 130 dead in a coordinator mission by extremists, happened on November 2015.
The website MyBookie.ag recently posted the odds of what bad luck things can actually happen on Friday the 13th.
*Losing wedding ring -- 3/1 (+300)
*A black cat crosses your path -- 3/2 (+150)
*Breaking a mirror -- 4/1 (+400)
*Significant other cheating on you -- 2/1 (+200)
*Losing your wallet -- 4/1 (+400)
*Sitting on gum -- 6/1 (+600)
*Getting hit by bird droppings -- 10/1 (+1000)
*Getting fired -- 10/11 (-110)
*Getting a speeding ticket -- 1/1 (+100)
*Walking under a ladder -- 3/1 (+300)
*Getting mugged -- 6/1 (+600)
*Losing your keys -- 1/1 (+100)
*Getting your flight cancelled -- 1/2 (-200)
*Leaving the restroom with toilet paper stuck to you -- 4/7 (-175)
*Finding hair in food -- 5/6 (-120)
*Waiter spills drink on you -- 3/2 (+150)
*Passing car splashing water on your face -- 4/1 (+400)
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