July 13, 2007
Watch yer back today
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Word of the Day :
triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.
Thirteen people, pledged to eliminate triskaidekaphobia, today tried to reassure American sufferers by renting a 13 ft. plot of land in Brooklyn for 13 cents . . . a month.
-- Daily Telegraph, January 14, 1967
Past disasters linked to the number 13 hardly help triskaidekaphobics overcome their affliction. The most famous is the Apollo 13 mission, launched on April 11, 1970 (the sum of 4, 11 and 70 equals 85 - which when added together comes to 13), from Pad 39 (three times 13) at 13:13 local time, and struck by an explosion on April 13.
-- "It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday", Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996
Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear.
In Christian countries the number 13 was considered unlucky because there were 13 persons at the Last Supper of Christ. Fridays are also unlucky, because the Crucifixion was on a Friday. Hence a Friday falling on the thirteenth day is regarded as especially unlucky.
Some famous triskaidekaphobes:
* Napoleon
* Herbert Hoover
* Mark Twain
* Richard Wagner
* Franklin Roosevelt
.
Word of the Day :
triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.
Thirteen people, pledged to eliminate triskaidekaphobia, today tried to reassure American sufferers by renting a 13 ft. plot of land in Brooklyn for 13 cents . . . a month.
-- Daily Telegraph, January 14, 1967
Past disasters linked to the number 13 hardly help triskaidekaphobics overcome their affliction. The most famous is the Apollo 13 mission, launched on April 11, 1970 (the sum of 4, 11 and 70 equals 85 - which when added together comes to 13), from Pad 39 (three times 13) at 13:13 local time, and struck by an explosion on April 13.
-- "It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday", Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996
Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear.
In Christian countries the number 13 was considered unlucky because there were 13 persons at the Last Supper of Christ. Fridays are also unlucky, because the Crucifixion was on a Friday. Hence a Friday falling on the thirteenth day is regarded as especially unlucky.
Some famous triskaidekaphobes:
* Napoleon
* Herbert Hoover
* Mark Twain
* Richard Wagner
* Franklin Roosevelt
.
Labels: fun facts, superstition, words
Comments:
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Bah, I laff at superstition -- ha ha ha ha! See? In 6th grade I picked 13 in a lottery and won the teacher's old sewing machine. Woo hoo.
My mother in law was born and died on a Friday the 13th. Kind of creepy.
I love fact-filled posts like this!
I love fact-filled posts like this!
I own 2 black cats so believe I am well protected!
Another sources of this most common superstition:
A Norse myth -- 12 gods had a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.
Another sources of this most common superstition:
A Norse myth -- 12 gods had a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.
# posted by 
: July 13, 2007 9:29 PM
: July 13, 2007 9:29 PM
I didn't even know it was a Friday the 13th until someone mentioned it to me. I can't tell whether I'm not superstitious, or if I just can't read the calendar.
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