Friday the 13th (dun dun dun)

Today is Friday, April 13th. (well it was when I began this blog post, even though I didn't finish it until now) Nothing about today would normally be special, except that today is considered one of the unluckiest days of the year. Obviously this is just supersition, but everyone is still a little wary of today.
Why? Well after a little research on Wikipedia and other random google searches, I can give a basic backstory to why Friday the 13th is such a dreaded day.
In numerology (the study of numbers and their significance) the number twelve is considered a lucky number. There are 12 hours on the clock, 12 months in a year. The number twelve is often incorporated in religion. In Greek mythology, there were twelve gods that lived on Mount Olympus. In Abrahamic religions, there were 12 tribes of Israel (I don't know what that means exactly, but according to Wikipedia its a significant aspect of Christianity and Judism) There were 12 apostles of Jesus, and in Islam there were 12 succesors to Muhammad (again, I don't know the signifcance of this). The number 13 is considered unlucky because it offsets the good luck created by the number 12. Some believe that having 13 people seated at a table was unlucky and would result in the illness or death of one of those seated at the table.
Of all the days of the week, Friday is considered be more unlucky than any other day. This has a lot to do with biblical connections like Good Friday, the day Jesus was supposed to have died. Other dates surrounding plagues and acts of the wrath of god often are discovered to have occurred on Fridays based on specific translations. Translations from ancient texts often differ depending on the language and then whatever language it was translated into. This is where different versions of the bible have come from like the King James bible, which is probably the most read version.
The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code. The Knights Templar were a group soldiers commissioned by the Pope during the bloody religious battles known as the crusades. There were many trained soldiers in the crusades, but none as specialized and mysterious as the Knights Templar. It is rumored that the Knights Templar were sent to Temple Mount in Jerusalem to retrieve the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant (a sacred chest containing the original ten commandments. The Knights were unable to retrieve the objects but were forever seen as mysterious and cult-like. On Friday, October 13th, 1307, the Knights Templar were arrested by the suggestion of the new Pope Clement and ordered by King Philip to relieve him of his debts to the Knights. With the blessing of the Pope, the Knights were convicted of random crimes such as  apostasy, idolatry, heresy, obscene rituals and homosexuality, financial corruption and fraud, and secrecy. Some Knights were sentenced to be burned at the stake, including Jacques de Molay. His final words are really creepy.

"Dieu sait qui a tort et a pëché. Il va bientot arriver malheur à ceux qui nous ont condamnés à mort" ("God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death") 

I wish I could make dramatic statements like that.

Friday the Thirteenth became a date of note in Thomas W. Larson's novel, Friday the Thirteenth. In the novel, an economic panic based on the fear of this day on Wall Street allows a broker to take advantage of the system and make it rich. After reading this, the public as a whole began to recognize Friday the 13th as a date many were weary of.

Retro posters <3

Of course, we cant forget about the classic 1980 horror movie Friday the 13th. Produced by nearly the same group as the very successful (and scary) Halloween, Friday the 13th is a slasher film about teenagers and a man in a hockey mask at a summer camp. Oh, and the serial killer only comes out on Friday the 13th. Why? I don't know, its just one of those days. Friday the 13th is forever a day that people will be afraid of.