On the first Friday the 13th of 2026, the Economic Times gathered thirteen moments across seven centuries when the thirteenth day of a month brought catastrophe, cruelty, or wonder. Like all such calendars of dread, it asks us to notice how humans search for pattern in the dates that frame their suffering, even when the calendar itself carries no cause. Read as a mirror rather than a proof, the list shows how a superstition about one number gathers around events that would have happened on any day, and how memory chooses which days to keep.
Friday the 13th: A Look at the Dates Behind the Superstition
Entries cite over 250,000 deaths in the 1521 Aztec conquest, 32 deaths in the 2012 Costa Concordia disaster, and 16 survivors of the 1972 Andes crash.
Thirteen dates, seven centuries, and not one shown to be caused by the calendar
Mark
Why does a list like this land with people?
Mimi
Because each entry is vivid on its own. Templars burned, a plane in the Andes, a daredevil at Genesee Falls. Stacked together, they feel like a pattern.
Luke
But they're thirteen events picked from centuries of 13ths. Nothing in the piece shows the date is worse than any other.
Mark
Are all of these actually Fridays?
Mimi
Not that the article says. Its own heading is about the 13th of various months, and the Friday framing is mostly the hook.
Luke
Right. Tupac's shooting and the Andes crash are dated, but the article never says which weekday for most entries. That's a gap.
Mark
What about the numbers?
Mimi
The 250,000 deaths in the 1521 conquest and the 40,000 civilians are large claims, given without a source.
Luke
Exactly. They're the article's figures, and some details are secondhand from People. I'd treat them as attributed, not settled.
Mark
Is there anything solid here?
Mimi
The 72 days in the Andes, 16 survivors, and 32 deaths on the Costa Concordia are specific, and they carry the human weight.
Luke
Specific, yes, but still unverified by this piece. And the origin of the superstition? Unknown, the article admits it.
Der Puls
- A superstition about the number 13 meets a calendar of real tragedies, from the Templar arrests to the Costa Concordia wreck.
- Dozens of lives were lost or upended in events that the article strings together under a single unlucky date.
- The piece leans on secondhand citations, and several entries are not even Fridays, loosening its claim to pattern.
- The list settles into a cultural curiosity: readers are urged to see it as commentary, and the next Friday the 13th arrives in March.
On the first Friday the 13th of 2026, the Economic Times gathered thirteen moments across seven centuries when the thirteenth day of a month brought catastrophe, cruelty, or wonder. Like all such calendars of dread, it asks us to notice how humans search for pattern in the dates that frame their suffering, even when the calendar itself carries no cause. Read as a mirror rather than a proof, the list shows how a superstition about one number gathers around events that would have happened on any day, and how memory chooses which days to keep.
The first Friday the 13th of 2026 arrived on February 13, and the Economic Times marked it with a list of thirteen dates spread across seven centuries, each one a day when something terrible or strange happened on the thirteenth of a month. Two more such Fridays remain this year, in March and November.
The article admits no one knows where the superstition began, though ominous meanings for the number 13 appear across several religions, and some buildings still have no 13th floor. Some people answer the fear with horror films or themed tattoos.
The list opens in 1307, when King Philip IV of France had more than 600 Knights Templars arrested, tortured by the Inquisition, and stripped of their property, and in 1521, when Spanish forces took Tenochtitlan with a death toll the article puts near 250,000. Personal stories follow: the daredevil Sam Patch died attempting a 125-foot jump at Genesee Falls in 1829; Buckingham Palace was bombed in 1940 with the royal family inside; Kitty Genovese was murdered in 1964, a case that spurred research into bystander behavior; and Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas in 1996 and died six days later.
Disasters fill the middle of the list: Australia's Black Friday bushfires of 1939, a Swedish Air Force plane lost over the Baltic in 1952, the 1972 Andes crash in which 16 of the survivors lived, and the 2012 Costa Concordia sinking that killed 32. The list closes with financial and pandemic dates, including the 1989 market plunge and the 2020 U.S. COVID emergency declaration.
The piece is a catalogue, not proof. It offers no link between the date and misfortune, and many of its details come secondhand from People magazine. Its real subject is how memory gathers suffering under a single unlucky number.
The first Friday the 13th of 2026 arrived on February 13, and the Economic Times marked it with a list: thirteen dates, spread across seven centuries, when something terrible or strange happened on the 13th of a month. Two more Friday the 13ths remain this year, in March and November.
The article says nobody knows where the superstition began, though bad omens tied to the number 13 appear across several religions. Ancient law codes and some buildings skipped the number in their listings, and People magazine is cited for the observation that many buildings still have no 13th floor. Some people respond by watching horror films or getting themed tattoos.
The oldest entry is October 13, 1307, when King Philip IV of France ordered the arrest of more than 600 Knights Templars. They were handed to the Inquisition and tortured, and many confessed to invented crimes such as heresy and blasphemy. France seized their money and property, and many were later burned alive. On August 13, 1521, Spanish forces took Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City. The article says about 250,000 people died in the conquest, including more than 40,000 Aztec civilians, and notes that many modern historians call it a genocide.
Some entries are personal. On November 13, 1829, the daredevil Sam Patch, famous for leaping from great heights, tried a second jump at Genesee Falls after a successful one at Niagara Falls. He raised the height to 125 feet. The jump failed and he died. On September 13, 1940, German bombs fell on Buckingham Palace during World War II while King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were inside, with explosions just yards away. The king later described the experience as terrifying.
On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was attacked outside her New York home, then raped and murdered at 28. Reports said 35 people witnessed something and did not call police, which prompted research into the bystander effect. On September 13, 1996, Tupac Shakur was shot four times while sitting in a car in Las Vegas. He died six days later, at 25.
The list also covers disasters. On January 13, 1939, bushfires known as Australia's Black Friday swept Victoria, driven by extreme heat, wind and drought, and affected nearly 75 percent of the state. They pushed fire safety awareness forward. On June 13, 1952, a Swedish Air Force DC-3 with 13 crew vanished over the Baltic Sea. A rescue plane sent after it was also shot down, and both were later confirmed to have been attacked. On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Flight 571 crashed in the Andes with 45 people aboard. Thirty-three survived the impact, rescue took 72 days, some survivors ate human remains to stay alive, and 16 lived in the end. On January 13, 2012, the cruise ship Costa Concordia struck rocks near Italy, and 32 people died.
Financial and public-health dates round it out. On October 13, 1989, U.S. markets plunged after a failed bailout involving American Airlines' parent company, which later fed early-1990s recession fears. On March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national COVID-19 emergency, the start of major lockdown changes in the U.S. One entry is lighter: on August 13, 2010, a 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning at exactly 13:13 at an English airshow and survived with a small burn.
The list is a catalogue, not proof. Several entries are not Fridays at all, and the article never offers a link between the date and misfortune. Several details are passed along from People magazine. The next Friday the 13th is in March.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The origin of the Friday the 13th superstition is still unknown, but bad omens tied to it appear across multiple religions.— The Economic Times
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