Freaky Friday

Well, it's Friday the 13th. . .

Dun Dun Dun!!

In celebration of this day, here are 13 facts about Friday the 13th:

• There are 3 Friday the 13th days this year; January 13th, April 13th, and July 13th. No big deal, right? Wrong. Each 13th is exactly 13 weeks apart. This hasn't happened since 1984!
• Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13.
• Next time you go to a big hotel or hospital, look for floor 13. Oh you can't find it? That's probably because it's not there! They avoid 13th floors because people can be so superstitious.
• The next year we will have 3 Friday the 13th days will be in 2015. They will fall in February, March, and November.
• Think your Friday the 13th is bad?  Be glad yours wasn't like this: On Friday, Oct. 13, 1307, officers of King Philip IV of France raided the homes of thousands of these Crusades warriors, imprisoning them on charges of illegal activities. Though the charges weren't proven, more than a hundred died of terrible torture. You may get seven years of bad luck, but at least you weren't tortured to death!
• Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13th - Friday, August 13, 1999 would have been his 100th birthday.

• It is said that starting a trip on a Friday will bring misfortune. I believe this because my honeymoon started on a Friday, and we had quite a few misfortunes that vacation!
• For pagans, 13 is actually a lucky number.
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt avoided travel on the 13th day of any month, and would never host 13 guests at a meal.
• Mark Twain once was the 13th guest at a dinner party. A friend warned him not to go. "It was bad luck," Twain later told the friend. "They only had food for 12."
• The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, N.C. offers therapy to help people overcome their fear of the freaky Friday.
• More than 60 million people worldwide are affected by a fear of Friday the 13th. This fear causes these people to not drive a car, leave the house, or even get out of bed.
• According to superstition, if you cut your hair on Friday the 13th, someone in your family will die. (This makes me laugh, because as I am blogging at my parent's house, my mom just arrives home from getting a hair cut.)

So hold on to your rabbit foot, don't open umbrellas inside, don't walk under any ladders or go near a black cat, and have a nice day!