Friday the 13th is quickly approaching and if you are anything like me you have no idea where on earth it originated from. Maybe it’s that slasher movie? Some massacre or other gruesome activities took place? Someone was feeling a little silly and started one of the most feared days of the year? I couldn’t tell you, so I decided to do some research. Before I explain I asked some students where they thought it originated. 

“If I had to guess it probably came from some witchy activities that got out of hand. You know, someone or other gets cursed and dies then suddenly it’s a big deal. It was probably a man, they’re dramatic.” senior, Frankie Winter, says. 

Although I do agree men can be dramatic I think we would have known if a witches curse had gone awry to cause catastrophic misfortune. 

“Friday the 13th started when Millie Bobby Brown went to a pride parade and accidentally ran people over,” senior, Colby Conover, says. 

While this is historically accurate it surprisingly isn’t true. Friday the 13th didn’t originate from a staple moment in Millie Bobby Brown’s career. So what could it be?

The answer is much more complicated than you would think. Friday the 13th has been considered unlucky for hundreds of years. Throughout Europe the number thirteen was considered unlucky because of the christian religions beliefs that at the last supper there were thirteen attendants and there were thirteen present on Nisan Maundy Thursday the day before Good Friday which happened to fall on the 13th of that month. 

Aside from Christian beliefs thirteen was an unlucky number in many mythologies including Norse, Greek, and Roman. In all the number was associated with gods of trickery, war, and death. All things people tend to avoid. 

Friday the 13th had been a superstition in western culture for as long as people could remember but it started to infiltrate the mainstream media in the early twentieth century. People and papers started to publicize unfortunate accidents or terrible events that took place on Friday the thirteenth creating a societal stigma around the rarity. 

Friday the 13th entered pop culture and never left after the movie Friday the 13th came out in 1980. This slasher left its mark (budum psh). 

Whether or not you’re a believer in the supernatural spooky occurrences of this day it might be wise to watch your back this upcoming Friday, you never know what might happen.