Paraskavedekatriaphobia: I’m having a hard time deciding who coined the term, but HuffPost buys it, so I will, too. This long, intriguing, needs-a-second-look word has been referenced when describing the fear of Friday the 13th.

Friday the 13th. Those words do have kind of an eerie ring to them, don’t they? As this day was approaching, I wanted to look further into where this whole thing came from and discover for myself if it really is as bad as people think.

During my research, I uncovered the notion that Friday was considered an unlucky day, tracing back as early as the 14th century. People believed that it was a bad day to undertake a journey or begin new projects. This struck me as odd, because as Americans, we seem to live, breathe and celebrate Friday. Some of us have been known to long for it as early as a Sunday evening… been there, done that.

Now these might seem a little dated, but suit yourself: 13 Reasons People Think the Number 13 is Unlucky

It’s true that some weird happenings have occurred on days that happen to be the 13th of the month, and also fall on a Friday, such as:

• Top chef Julia Child dies on Friday, April 13, 2004 (Did anyone know that before she became a famous chef, she worked for an American World War II-era spy agency? That happened!)
• Al Capone was sentenced to prison on a Friday the 13
• Rapper Tupac Shakur died on Friday, September 13, 1996

And then this is nifty:

• Many buildings don’t count their 13th floors. You’ll notice the elevator will skip from floor 12 to floor 14.
• There is no 13th Avenue in the golden state’s San Francisco. Instead, Funston Avenue replaces 13th in between 12th and 14th Avenues.
• Killers Charles Manson, Saddam Hussein, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy, and Jack the Ripper each have 13 letters in their names. Okay, now I’m feeling spooked.

On a brighter side, these celebrities wear the day with nostalgia, knowing they were born on a Friday the 13th:

The Olsen Twins
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Kate Walsch
Steve Buscemi
Darius Rucker

So, there you have it. I will conclude by saying that I don’t ride on the superstitious train, and I think we’ll all be fine today. Lucky (or unlucky?) for us, today is Friday the 13th, and also a full moon… get out the Ouija board!  TGIF!