Fear of the 13th is called -- are you ready for this? --paraskavedekatriaphobia. It prompts millions of people to avoid travel, surgery and important business. Henry Ford, Napoleon and FDR had it, the Associated Press says.
"FDR would not depart on a (train) trip on the 13th," said Thomas Fernsler, a University of Delaware mathematician who has studied the number enough to earn the moniker "Dr. 13." The former president would order the train to leave the station before midnight on the 12th or after midnight on the morning of the 14th.
The phobia around the 13th is a cousin to triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13. The supposedly unlucky number, triskaidekaphobes say, is the reason behind the explosion of Apollo 13, which took off at exactly 1:13 p.m. (1313 military time) on 4/11/70 (digits that add up to 13).
The origin of these phobias? No one knows for sure. Some trace it to Jesus, who was crucified on a Friday after a Last Supper attended by 13 people. Or to Norse mythology when the mischievous Loki crashed a party of 12 gods at Valhalla. Or maybe it's just because it comes after 12 -- a good number. Think 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles of Jesus.
There's one place where Friday the 13th may actually be lucky: Wall Street. Stocks have risen by an average of 0.04 % on each of the past 185 Friday the 13ths, according to the Bespoke Investment Group, a Harrison, N.Y.-based investment research firm. That's double the average 0.02% daily gain, but a little worse than other Fridays.
Source: usatoday
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