Beware!!! Friday the 13th today

ALLinDOON

Staff Reporter

Fri Jan 13, 2012, 12:00 IST

Beware: It may be the first Friday the 13th of the year, but it won't be the last. The superstitiously unlucky day is set to creep up two more times in 2012, so if you suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia (that's fear of Friday the 13th), maybe it's best to stay indoors and rent a couple of movies.

And don't worry if you do; millions of others will likely be joining you. There is some good news, though. The date can only appear a maximum of three times during a calendar year. This year, the inauspicious day will make two more appearances in April and July. But after this summer, the date isn't set to venture back onto the calendar until September 2013. (Friday the 13th, 2013? Yikes!)

Although the fear might just be based on superstition, to this day, most buildings don't have a thirteenth floor, and many airports don't have a thirteenth gate. And apparently the economy tends to suffer a bit each time the foreboding day rolls around. Another myth declares that "a child born on Friday the 13th will be unlucky for life," according to TIME magazine.