The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. There are many myths surrounding the fear of Friday the 13th. It's considered bad luck for 13 people to sit down to a meal, Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Adam supposedly ate the apple on Friday, ancient man could only count to 12, and so on. But the most interesting tidbit I found is this story: One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again. Every year has at least one and at most three Fridays the 13th, with 48 occurences in 28 years an average of 1.7 times per year. Some famous people who were born on Friday the 13th are Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Fidel Castro, and Steve Buscemi.
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