FT197

Like most people, I grew up with the Friday the 13th superstition, and with the movie of the same name, so it was hard to believe that something that was so familiar and so embedded in our culture – and that seemed so ancient – did not exist until the 20th century.


Previously, the most prevalent 13-based superstition had been that relating to ‘13 at a table’ (which would appear to predate any other beliefs about the number 13 being unlucky and first appeared as a fully-fledged superstition in the 17th century).


Although Friday the 13th only emerged as an independent superstition in the early 20th century, Friday itself had long been considered an unlucky day.