18 terrible things that happened on Friday the 13th

Gabbi ShawSep 13, 2024, 20:25 IST

The Costa Concordia sank on Friday the 13th.Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images

This Friday, September 13, is a Friday the 13th.
Friday the 13th has been a superstitious date for a very long time, but no one knows exactly why.

Friday the 13th is so famously unlucky that there's even a phobia dedicated to it: friggatriskaidekaphobia.

Even if you personally don't put stock in this fear, there are a lot of people who do. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute even estimated in 2013 that between $800 and $900 million are lost in business every Friday the 13th because people are afraid to shop, travel, and conduct business.

Still think it's just a superstition? These events might be enough to convince even the most determined non-believer.

Buckingham Palace was bombed during WWII.

The event occurred during the London Blitz in World War II.Everett Historical/Shutterstock

March 13, 2020, could be considered the first official day of the pandemic in the US.

Masks were seemingly everywhere in just a few short days.Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Tupac Shakur died.

Tupac Shakur was shot on a Saturday but died six days later on the 13th.Walik Goshorn/MediaPunch/IPX/AP

A British 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning on a Friday the 13th, at 13:13.

13:13 is 1:13 in military time.Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Kitty Genovese, a Queens resident, was brutally attacked and murdered.

Kitty Genovese's murder is an infamous New York story.NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images

The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Italy.

The Costa Concordia laid on its side.Tony Gentile/REUTERS

Kansas experienced record-breaking amounts of rain and flooding.

People pushed boats through flood water in Kansas in 1951.Francis Miller/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

The stock market experienced a "mini-crash" in 1989.

"Mini" is a relative term.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A flight through the Andes ended in disaster and death.

This event has been dramatized in multiple films.Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images

On that same day, another flight crashed in Russia.

The plane was headed to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).Shutterstock

The Ku Klux Klan's first Grand Wizard was born.

The KKK has been around since 1865.AP Photo

Computers fell victim to the "Friday the 13th Virus."

The virus affected computers made by IBM.Shutterstock / photovibes

The Bhola cyclone hit Bangladesh.

Some of the damage from the cyclone.AP Images

Swedish flight DC-3 vanished and was never heard from again.

The Baltic Sea from space.NASA

The city of Buffalo, New York, was hit with a freak blizzard.

Buffalo is no stranger to snow.Reuters/Rickey Rogers

The Black Friday bushfires consumed Victoria, Australia.

Wildfires are common in the summer months.Associated Press/Noah Berger

Sam Patch plunged to his death in the Genesee River in 1829.

The site of Patch's last stunt.The Print Collector/Getty Images

In 2029, an asteroid will come extremely close to Earth.

The asteroid was named 99942 Apophis.Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock

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