The hangman works on Friday
Not only was Friday the day designated for crucifixions in Rome, but all executions in late-19th century America were also traditionally held on Fridays and it came to be called hangman’s day.
The execution of the Knights Templar
In his 2003 bestseller Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown highlighted the myth’s most popular origin. It was on Friday 13 October in 1307, when hundreds of Knights Templar were executed across France. According to legend, Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay cursed the King and the Pope for these murders.
The Americans bought into it big time
According to The North Carolina Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute about 800 to 900 million dollars are lost in USA every year because people choose to stay indoors and not travel or shop on Friday the 13th.
Donald Dossey, the founder of the institute and author of Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun, says the fear of Friday the 13th, afflicts 17 to 21 million people in the United States.
The phobia associated with the date is responsible for the enduring success of the “Friday the 13th” horror film franchise that debuted in 1980, and featured a machete-wielding psychopath. The last film in the series came out in 2009.
There have been studies on it!
There have been studies conducted on how accident-prone the date actually is. One study by the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) found that fewer accidents, reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of a month falls on a Friday as compared to an average Friday.
“I find it hard to believe that it is because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home, but statistically speaking, driving is a little bit safer on Friday 13th,” CVS statistician Alex Hoen was quoted by a Reuters report on the study.
Should you be worried?
It is unlikely that Friday the 13 will do you any harm, though believing in it might. Remember the idea of time as linear is artificial. Calendars were created for our convenience. And that there were two Friday the 13ths in 2017. If you survived the one in January unharmed, there’s no reason why today should be hard on you.