Paraskevidekatriaphobia

 

OK, this was unexpected...

Is it really true that the idea of Friday 13th being an unlucky day comes from the (modern) United States?

Short answer: yes — the idea of Friday the 13th as a single, special “unlucky day” is largely a modern American invention, even though both parts (Friday and 13) were feared earlier in Europe.

Here’s how it actually developed.

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1. The number 13 was unlucky long before America

In Europe, 13 had been viewed as ominous for centuries:

• At the Last Supper there were 13 people, and Judas was the 13th

• Many medieval inns, buildings, and ships avoided the number

• Folklore associated 13 with disorder breaking perfect 12 (12 months, 12 zodiac signs, 12 apostles, etc.)

So 13 = unlucky was old.

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2. Friday was also considered unlucky

In Christian Europe:

• Friday was the day of the Crucifixion

• It was associated with execution and mourning

• Sailors considered it bad luck to start voyages on Friday

So Friday = unlucky was also old.

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3. But the combination didn’t exist

Before the 19th century, there is no solid evidence that people feared Friday the 13th in particular.

They feared:

• Friday

• The number 13

But not the specific calendar date.

No medieval sermons
No Renaissance diaries
No old European folklore

Nothing says “Friday the 13th is unlucky.”

That combination is missing.

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4. Where Friday the 13th came from

The modern superstition appears in the United States in the late 1800s.

The earliest clear reference is from 1881, when a group in New York called the Thirteen Club tried to mock superstition by holding dinners on the 13th — especially on Fridays — to show nothing bad would happen.

Ironically, newspapers reporting on these events began to spread the idea that:

“Friday the 13th is a dangerously unlucky day.”

The publicity backfired.

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5. The idea goes viral

By the early 1900s:

• Newspapers in the US regularly warned about Friday the 13th

• Businesses noticed people avoided travel and purchases

• Insurance companies tracked higher anxiety on that day

In 1907, a popular American novel called Friday, the Thirteenth portrayed the date as disastrous, locking it into popular culture.

From America, the superstition spread to Europe and the world.

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6. Why people think it’s ancient

People often connect it to:

• The Knights Templar arrests on Friday Oct 13, 1307

• Norse myths

• The Last Supper

But historians agree:

These links were invented after the superstition already existed.

They are retrofitted explanations.

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Bottom line

• 13 was unlucky in Europe

• Friday was unlucky in Europe

• But “Friday the 13th” was not

The idea that this specific date is uniquely unlucky was created and popularized in the United States around 1880–1910 — and then exported to the rest of the world.

So yes:
Your instinct is right — this famous superstition is modern, American, and manufactured.