Friday the 13th Facts

It is Friday the 13th. Generally related to being unlucky. So here are some facts about Friday the 13th, courtesy of timeanddate.com.

• It isn't really clear why it's feared. There are a lot of stories that you can point to as a potential reason for it being feared. The one that I hear frequently involves the Knights Templar being massacred on a Friday the 13th.
• Despite not knowing the origins of the fear, it is a legitimate fear, with two different names. Friggatriskaidekaphobia or Paraskevidekatriaphobia
• The phobia is common enough that businesses, like airlines, actually suffer losses on Friday the 13th.
• Alfred Hitchcock's 100th birthday would have been Friday the 13th. August 13th, 1999.
• There is an asteroid that will come dangerously close to Earth on Friday the 13th. But not for 12 years, and it is supposed to miss Earth. 99942 Apophis was discovered back in 2004, and it is going to come very close to Earth on April 13th, 2029. Which just so happens to be a Friday.