Friday December 13 is the final Friday the 13th of the year, which is considered unlucky across the world. The day has been associated with superstitions, and historically certain events have occurred on this date that has added to it’s reputation. According to Associate Professor at Shippensburg University, and historian, Christine Senecal, says the number 13 and date both have a different trajectory in unlucky sort of origins.

“In fact, there's a certain name for it. It's Triss Cadec, a phobia about that for and it's phobia from a Greek word. Yeah. And that means it's fear of 13. But I think it's interesting because although most people think, yes, everybody knows that Friday the 13th is unlucky, that fear really only took off in the late 19th century. So, the late 1800s. And the word for fear of 13 wasn't coined until 1911.”

The superstition surrounding the day really didn’t take off until after the American Civil War.

“So, it's the late 19th century and there are people that press against this. They don't want this fear. They think it's superstitious. And so, one person actually founded a society called the 13th Club. His name was Captain William Fowler. And he tried to fight against the rise in what he thought was problematic about these beliefs, superstitious beliefs. He decided to convince this club to bust on superstition in 1882. So, the 13 Club started on Friday, January the 13th, and he sat down with 12 other diners. Ooh, scary number because 13 if there was an idea that if 13 people sit down to dine together in the next year, one of them will die. And then he proceeded to do all kinds of things that ran counter to like in the face of superstition. So, people like spilled salt on the table deliberately. They lit 13 candles. They dined on lobster salad shaped into miniature coffins. So, they were like laughing at death. And then during the year, they did all kinds of other things that flouted superstition, like eating with open umbrellas, deliberately walking under ladders. And then then they did things like they count.”

Friday December 13 is the final Friday the 13th of the year, which is considered unlucky across the world. The day has been associated with superstitions, and historically certain events have occurred on this date that has added to it&rsquo;s reputation. According to Associate Professor at Shippensburg University, and historian, Christine Senecal, says the number 13 and date both have a different trajectory in unlucky sort of origins.
&ldquo;In fact, there's a certain name for it. It's Triss Cadec, a phobia about that for and it's phobia from a Greek word. Yeah. And that means it's fear of 13. But I think it's interesting because although most people think, yes, everybody knows that Friday the 13th is unlucky, that fear really only took off in the late 19th century. So, the late 1800s. And the word for fear of 13 wasn't coined until 1911.&rdquo;
The superstition surrounding the day really didn&rsquo;t take off until after the American Civil War.
&ldquo;So, it's the late 19th century and there are people that press against this. They don't want this fear. They think it's superstitious. And so, one person actually founded a society called the 13th Club. His name was Captain William Fowler. And he tried to fight against the rise in what he thought was problematic about these beliefs, superstitious beliefs. He decided to convince this club to bust on superstition in 1882. So, the 13 Club started on Friday, January the 13th, and he sat down with 12 other diners. Ooh, scary number because 13 if there was an idea that if 13 people sit down to dine together in the next year, one of them will die. And then he proceeded to do all kinds of things that ran counter to like in the face of superstition. So, people like spilled salt on the table deliberately. They lit 13 candles. They dined on lobster salad shaped into miniature coffins. So, they were like laughing at death. And then during the year, they did all kinds of other things that flouted superstition, like eating with open umbrellas, deliberately walking under ladders. And then then they did things like they count.&rdquo;

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, host Asia Tabb starts conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, host Asia Tabb starts conversations about what&rsquo;s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

The Spark

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, host Asia Tabb start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, host Asia Tabb start the conversations about what&rsquo;s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at&nbsp;<a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.