Some are scared, others were amused by Friday 13

Today, millions of Americans are nervous and some will even stay home. Others will laugh. It's just another day on the calendar.

Where is it?

Today is Friday the 13th, the most famous superstition of all, which evokes a range of emotions. Commonly associated with bad luck, the day drives a lot to distraction – if they notice it at all.

"I do not pay any attention to it," said Lynn Armstrong, 65, a reference librarian at Blackburn College in Carlinville. "I do not believe in any of these things – it's a day like any other."

There are many who do not agree. The Stress Management Center based in North Carolina and Phobia Institute reports that between 17 million and 21 million Americans are afraid of Friday the 13th. As many of them stay at home, they refuse to steal. or change their plans, it is estimated that between 800 and 900 million business dollars are lost throughout the country every 13th day of Friday

being the second Friday, June 13, 2018. the first took place in April. There were also two in 2017 and will both be in 2019 and 2020. The maximum number of times that the 13 is a Friday in a given year is three, but it is guaranteed to occur at least once a year , as will happen in 2021 and 2022. Fourteen months is the longest possible time between any Friday 13th, which is still enough to thrill a lot.

Part of the reason is the simple fear of the number 13, or triskaidekaphobia. Enough people bear this fear that the number is regularly omitted from parts of everyday life. Many hotels do not number rooms ending in 13, and less than 5% of residential condos in Manhattan and Brooklyn would have a 13th floor.

Similarly, the two largest elevator manufacturers in the world, Otone and Moline Kone. , offer plans for building owners to leave button number 13 in their elevators. In 2014, the Irish carrier Ryanair announced that it would withdraw line 13 from its plane, while this number is also omitted from many aisles, flights and gates in air transport.

The fear of Friday 13 adds some letters to the name, creating the handy friggatriskaidekaphobia. The prefix comes from Frigg, the Nordic goddess of wisdom that gives her name to Friday, and may be a clue to the origins of the discomfort of Friday 13.

Some believe that fear is rooted in Norse mythology , while others point to the Bible, arguing that Judas was the 13th guest at the Last Supper, and Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Still others quote a 1907 novel by Thomas Lawson on Friday, 13th, which opens with these three words

Whatever the case may be, Friday the 13th found its place in the pop culture. The film franchise of the same name has earned $ 464 million at the box office since its introduction in 1980.

Many, however, make fun of any notion of the cowardly day.

"For me, Friday the 13th is like a horoscope," said Peter Oswald, 64, director of public relations. "I look at him the next day, to see if all this has become reality." On Saturday the 14th, I think back and ask: is the thirteenth day really so bad? "smile." And usually this was not the case. "

Believers, however, point to strange events On Friday, August 13, 2010, newspapers in Britain reported that a boy had been treated after being struck by lightning at 13:13 or 13:13 military time. "The boy's age" Thirteen

Some unlucky events in history took place on Friday 13 On September 13, 1940, Nazi planes dropped five bombs on Buckingham Palace, a cyclone that devastated Bangladesh was at its worst on November 13, 1970, and eventually killed more than 500,000 people. of the Costa Concordia luxury liner off Italy on January 13, 2012, which cost the lives of about $ 2 billion.

The milestones of American history on Friday the 13th include two stages of the Civil War On June 13, 1862, the gen Confederate Supreme Jeb Stuart humiliated the North by completely overlapping his cavalry strength around the Army of the Potomac Union.

Exactly three months later, two Union soldiers found the Confederate Special Order 191. Lee's campaign in Maryland, wrapped around three cigars in the days leading up to the battle of 39, ; Antietam. The Southerners overcame this blunder, however, in a battle that many historians consider to be a draw.

So Friday the 13th lives, at least in the minds of the fearful.

"Usually, I do not even realize it's Friday the 13th until the day is half-finished," said Teresa Kirk, 49, a marketing assistant. "It does not register at all, I do not even think about it."