“Fear ye, oh fear ye” – A Look at Some Friday the 13th Trivia

 

I found a great post on People about Friday the 13th trivia. It started off with the line: “Fear ye, oh fear ye, it’s Friday the 13th.” (Instead of “Here ye, oh here ye.” Get it? It tickled me. Hence, why I borrowed it for the title.)

Anyway, it shared nine pieces of Friday the 13th trivia. None of which completely cleared up the mystery of why there’s so much superstition surrounding the date.

However, it offered some great background on its possible origins and threw in a couple of other interesting facts.

I’m not going to address all nine here. Just the ones that really stood out to me.

1. No 13 in The Code of Hammurabi

“What in the hell is the Code of Hammurabi?” was my first thought when I read about it.

The People article briefly summed it up thusly: “The Code of Hammurabi is a set of Babylonian law codes of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to about 1754 B.C.”

Here’s Wikipedia’s CliffsNotes version:

The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian code of law of ancient Mesopotamia, dated back to about 1754 BC (Middle Chronology). It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code.

So, basically, it’s perhaps the first recorded laws, written well before Jesus was born.

They’re apparently numbered, but there’s not a law number 13.

Why? No one knows.

Did it set a precedent for a prejudice against the number 13?

Perhaps.

Again. No one knows.

2. 13 Makes an Awkward –and Very Unlucky– Number of Dinner Guests 

There were 13 people at the Last Supper: Jesus and 12 apostles.

Jesus was crucified. Judas committed suicide. (Well, that’s the most popular account.)

Either way, both died soon afterwards.

Also: “Jesus was crucified on a Friday, which may be where Friday and 13 dovetailed in the realm of superstition, Michael Bailey, a history professor at Iowa State University, told USA Today.”

The People article also mentioned another unlucky dinner that resulted in murder concerning a Norse legend.

Odin was throwing a dinner party. Loki, the god of evil and chaos crashed it –becoming the 13th “guest.” He caused major mischief that resulted in the death of another god, the beloved Baldur.

Somehow this all led to more fighting, deaths, and Earth experiencing total darkness (and winter) for the first time.

And it created the stigma that 13 guests at dinner is not only unlucky, but may also result in dire consequences.

3. There Used to be a Thirteen Club 

Heck, for all I know, there still might be a Thirteen Club. Gonna have to look into that. Might spark another post.

The Haunted Librarian wrote about how Captain William Fowler “created The Thirteenth Club in an effort to remove the stigma attached to the date. ”

The People article explained “[at] its first meeting, all 13 members walked under ladders into a room filled with spilled salt. The group’s ranks swelled to 400 eventually, taking in five U.S. Presidents: Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.”

Pretty wild stuff, right?

4. 13 Is Taylor Swift’s Lucky Number

Well, I’m not positive it’s her lucky number, but I think she holds it in very high regard. Here’s what she had to say about it:

“I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No.1 song had a 13-second intro,” Swift told MTV in 2009. “Every time I’ve won an award, I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter.”

5. Friday the 13ths Are Actually Some of the Safest Days of the Year

“Statistically speaking,” that is.

And maybe only in the Netherlands because the stats come from the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics, which “conducted a study in 2008 that showed there were fewer traffic accidents, fires and robberies on Friday the 13th, compared to other Fridays.”