Friday the 13th
March 13, 2026
To Inspire:
It’s Friday the 13th. Again. We had one last month and have one more coming up this fall. As one of today’s New York Times articles says, 2026 is bad news for friggatriskaidekaphobes. There are people who have this phobia, a fear of Friday the 13th.
Jerry Brown, Senior Investment Analyst for The Joseph Group, mentioned this morning the math behind having three of these unlucky days this year, and my New York Times app stepped in with a little more detail.
There is one more Friday the 13th coming in November. The last time this happened was 2015, making you think it happens every 11 years, but it’s not that neat and tidy, because sometimes it is six years. This gets a little nerdy, but it’s interesting!
Whenever a common (non-leap) year begins on a Thursday, the months of February, March, and November will have a Friday the 13th. This will happen 11 times in the 21st century.
The February-March-November pattern repeats in a 28-year cycle. In the 21st century, the period began in 2009. In 2015, 6 years later, Friday the 13th occurred in February, March, and November. It happens again this year, after which we’ll have to wait 11 years for the next February, March, and November trilogy in 2037.
This pattern will repeat itself starting 2043, 6 years after 2037. It also happens in leap years. If January 1 of a leap year falls on a Sunday, the months of January, April, and July will each have Friday the 13th. In the 21st century this happened in 2012 and will happen again in 2040, 2068, and 2096 – following that same 28-year cycle.
Why do we consider this day – and the number 13 – unlucky? The focus on this seems to be mostly a Western, and fairly recent, phenomenon, but there are some things in history and scripture that could lead one to think the this is an unlucky date.
Some historians believe that the superstitions surrounding it arose in the late 19th century. The first documented mention of the day can be found in a biography of Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday the 13th. A 1907 book, Friday the Thirteenth, by American businessman Thomas Lawson, may have furthered the superstition.
Others believe there are Biblical origins. The apostle Judas, one of 13 people at the Last Supper, is said to have betrayed Jesus Christ on a Friday. The leaders of the Knights Templar, the powerful Catholic military-religious order established to protect pilgrims heading to Jerusalem, were arrested and tortured on Friday the 13th in 1307.
Kendall R. Phillips, a professor in the department of communication and rhetorical studies at Syracuse University, said fixating on Friday the 13th is “really our way of pretending we can control or predict a universe that is uncontrollable and unpredictable. So, if you think about it, all the things we think are omens of bad luck — Friday the 13th, walking under a ladder, a black cat crossing your path — all those just become ways for us to try to make sense of the reality that is — stuff just happens.”
Fortunately, there is very little evidence to show that Friday the 13th is any less lucky than any other day of the year. Here’s hoping this Friday the 13th is uneventful for you!
Have a great weekend!
Written by Michelle O’Brien, Manager of Marketing & Communications