There is no year without one Friday the 13th, and no year with more than three. This day is considered the unluckiest of days in many superstitions, unless you were born on Friday the 13th, in which case it is your lucky day. “Friggatriskaidekaphobia” is the fear of Friday the 13th. Some people don’t like the number 13, whether it’s a Friday or not. The fear of the number 13 is called “triskaidekaphobia.” Quite a few skyscrapers and hotels do not have a 13th floor (or a room 13, for that matter), and many buildings substitute 12 1/2 for 13 in their addresses. Winston Churchill wouldn’t travel on Friday the 13th, considering it too unlucky.” Discover more fun and freaky facts about Friday the 13th!
Daily Calendar for Friday, October 13, 2023
Born
- Mary McCauley (Molly Pitcher) –
- Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (politician) –
- Art Tatum (jazz pianist) –
- Herbert Lawrence Block (editorial cartoonist) –
- Cornel Wilde (actor) –
- Lenny Bruce (comedian) –
- Margaret Thatcher (former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) –
- Paul Simon (musician) –
- Sammy Hagar (musician) –
- Lacy J. Dalton (singer) –
- Marie Osmond (singer) –
- Nancy Kerrigan (figure skater) –
- Ashanti (singer) –
Died
- Milton Hershey (American manufacturer and philanthropist) –
- Ed Sullivan (television personality) –
- Stephen Ambrose (historian) –
Events
- Cornerstone of the White House was laid–
- The Jewish organization B’nai B’rith was founded–
- Several countries adopted the Greenwich longitude as the prime meridian–
- Boston Americans (now Red Sox) won first World Series–
- The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies to win the World Series–
- William Golding’s novel, The Lord of the Flies, was published in New York–
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opened on Broadway–
- Expo 86 ended in Vancouver, British Columbia–
- The United States Navy Memorial was dedicated, Washington, D.C.–
- Stock market dropped 190.58 points in what was called the Friday the 13th mini-crash–
- A 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck central Oklahoma–
- Thirty-three miners trapped underground for more than 2 months were rescued, Copiapo, Chile–
- Actor William Shatner became the oldest person, at age 90, to travel to space–
Weather
- A snowstorm hit New York City–
- Project Cirrus: 80 lbs. dry ice released onto hurricane–
- Up to 2 feet of snow blanketed Buffalo, New York, and surrounding areas–