Friday the 13th
It's Friday the 13th -- a day to decide if you're superstitious or not! There's a fun new book out (in addition to Lemony Snicket's The End -- more on that later!). It's called Oh, Yikes! History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments by Joy Masoff (Workman PUblishing, $14.95). On pages 94-95, it tackles the Friday the 13th question. Why don't most airplanes have a 13th row or apartments have a 13th floor? Why do people have paraskevidekatriaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th)? It is essentially a religious battle. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church didn't want people to honor the Norse goddess Freya, for whom Friday is named. Freya was the goddess of love and having babies. The church didn't want people getting lovey dovey on Fridays, so they told everyone Freya was a witch and Friday was the witch's Sabbath. Similarly, the church didn't like the number 13 because many pagan religions believed the number 13 to be special, too. But guess who wasn't superstitious? The Founding Fathers. Just think: They had 13 original colonies, 13 stripes on the American flag and 13 original signers of the Declaration of Independence!