TODAY is Friday 13, which is said to be the unluckiest day of all.
With 13 considered an unlucky number and Friday an unlucky day, the combination seems to be a bad omen.
It is unclear where the superstition originates, but it is thought to have first emerged in the Middle Ages.
Historians believe that it may have biblical origins as it was on what would have been a Friday that Eve bit into the apple that fell from the tree in the Garden of Eden.
There were also 13 present at the Last Supper, with Judas sitting in the 13th place.
Also, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
Another possible explanation is that on October 13, 1307 the execution of the Knights Templar was ordered by the Pope and the King of France.
The Knights Templar was a Holy Order dedicated to protecting the treasures of the Church.
There are various other theories centred around the significance of the number 13 in different cultures.
In Norse mythology, legend has it that 12 gods sat down for a banquet but a 13th, Loki, arrived and murdered another god.
Hindus believe that it is bad luck for 13 people to gather together for any purpose at the same time.
13 facts about Friday 13th
1) A fear of Friday 13 goes by two different names, friggatriskaidekaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia
2) Alfred Hitchcock, Fidel Castro and Margaret Thatcher were all born on a Friday 13
3) The cruise ship Costa Concordia sank on Friday January 13, 2012
4) Italy considers Friday 17 to be an unlucky day – and 13 is a lucky number there
5) Finland observes National Accident Day on one Friday 13 each year
6) Thomas W. Lawson’s 1907 novel Friday, the Thirteenth tells the story of a stockbroker who uses the superstition to cause a Wall Street crash
7) The famous Hollywood sign was unveiled on Friday July 13, 1923
8) Each year has between one and three Friday 13s
9) Apollo 13 is the only unsuccessful moon mission
10) A 1993 British Medical Journal study claimed that “the risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent” on Friday 13 – but later said their study was not meant to be taken too seriously
11) In the past five years, the FTSE 100 financial index has dropped on eight of the ten Friday 13s
12) Rapper Tupac Shakur died from gunshot wounds on Friday 13 1996
13) The 1972 Andes air disaster occurred on Friday October 13
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