Community Corner
Friday the 13th Have You Freaked? Check Out Our Facts, Superstitions and Notable Deaths
This is the third Friday the 13th of the year...
Today marks the third Friday the 13th of 2012.
There was January 13, April 13 and today, July 13 … each are exactly 13 weeks a part … freaky huh?
How does that make you feel? A little superstitious?
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OK, while the date might conjure images similar to those in the Final Destination movies, that's pretty unlikely.
Although, I have a huge phobia of driving behind semis hauling large logs.
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For the fun of things here are some fun facts about Friday the 13th from Live Science:
- The association with bad luck may be biblical. The 13h guest at the Last Supper betrayed Jesus.
- The fear of 13 is far and wide, hotels and hospitals often skip the 13th floor, and sometimes airports omit the 13th gate. (Have you ever seen this?)
- Alfred Hitchcock would have been 100 years old on Friday, Aug. 13, 1999.
- President Franklin Roosevelt was said to avoid traveling on the 13th of any month.
You might know a few people who died on Friday the 13th:
- Benny Goodman - June 13, 1986
- Tupac Shakur - Sept. 13, 1996
- Julia Child - Aug. 13, 2004
- Tim Russert - Aug. 13, 2010
Just this year there have been some pretty crazy and scary events happening on Friday the 13th:
- On Jan. 13, the Costa Concordia cruise ship sank in front of the island of Isola del Giglio killing 32 people.
- On April 13, an earthquake hit Palermo, Sicily, in Italy.
- On April 13, a tornado hit Oklahoma.
OK, that's enough to scare you into staying home, right?
No? OK, here's a list of 14 (because you can't do 13) things to avoid on Friday the 13th from the Chicago Tribune.
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