Terrifying things to happen on Friday 13th that will leave you scared to go out
Friday the 13th is known by many as the unluckiest day of the year.
Some avoid going out altogether when the time strikes. And fearing the calendar date is so common that a term has been coined to describe it – paraskevidekatriaphobia.
Superstitions are believed to originate from Biblical times, when 13 apostles attended the Last Supper, the day before Jesus died on Good Friday.
READ MORE: Why is Friday the 13th considered unlucky? Common superstitions and where it comes from
Want to get into the spooky spirit? Check out all things Halloween here.
Then throughout history, tragic occurrences have occurred on Friday the 13th that have cemented our superstitions. So can you make your way through our list without getting the heebie-jeebies?
1. Sinking of the Costa Concordia
The Costa Concordia hit a rock off the coast of Italy on January 13, 2012, tearing a 70metre gash in the hull.
The cruise liner, which was carrying more than 4,000 people at the time, toppled onto its starboard side and started to sink.
Heartbreakingly, 32 passengers and crew members died as a result of the disaster.
2. Uruguay rugby team plane crash
An alarmingly high number of plane crashes have occurred on Friday 13th – and many avoid travelling on this calendar date altogether.
One of the most famous examples occurred on October 13, 1972. Flight 571 was carrying an Uruguayan college rugby team when it crashed into the Andres Mountains.
Out of the 45 passengers, 28 survived the crash. And in the days following, they did everything they could to survive the freezing temperatures outside.
They sheltered in remains of the plane fuselage and even had to eat the flesh of deceased passengers to stay alive. After a remarkable 72 days out on the glacier, 16 people were rescued on December 23.
3. Tupac Shakur death
Tupac was gunned down on the Las Vegas Strip on September 7, 1996. But six days later on Friday the 13th, the hip-hop legend succumbed to his injuries.
The drive-by shooting has been a mystery for 27 years – but cops recently seem to have made a breakthrough. Duane "Keefe D" Davis was charged with Tupac's murder last month.
Davis, who admitted publicly in a 2018 interview for a BET show to being inside the Cadillac during the attack, was part of Pac's rival gang the Crips and had sought revenge for the attack on his nephew, Orlando Anderson. Police shared footage of the attack today (September 27), underlining that was the motive.
4. Kitty Genovese murder
Ever heard of the bystander effect? It's a phrase that was coined after this disturbing case.
When Kitty Genovese was brutally stabbed and raped by a stranger on March 13, 1964, people were shocked for a different reason.
The attack, which took place for more than 30 minutes, was witnessed by at least 38 people who walked past on Friday the 13th. But instead of phoning the police or getting help, they turned a blind eye.
Now, the expression is used to describe how people are less likely to offer help to victims when they're surrounded by others.
5. Boy struck by lightning
The odds of being struck by lightning are less than one in a million, research from CDC reveals. So when a 13-year-old boy was hit by a bolt in August 2010, it certainly caught people's attention.
While the Suffolk-based teen didn't suffer any serious injuries, there was a detail of the case that made people's spines tingle.
That's because the lightning was believed to strike at 13:33 on Friday the 13th.
6. Buckingham Palace bombed during WWII
On September 13, 1940, during the Blitz of World War II, the Nazis dropped five bombs on Buckingham Palace.
The bombs hit the palace and its chapel while Queen Elizabeth and King George VI were both enjoying tea at the royal residence.
Three people were injured at the London landmark, one of them fatally.
7. Knights Templar massacre
On October 13, 1307, the French King Philip IV arrested and tortured hundreds of Knights Templar.
Even the Grand Master of the order, Jacqes de Molay, was arrested in Paris together with 60 knights.
The men were charged with a wide array of offences, including devil worship, heresy, homosexuality, spitting on the cross and fraud.
8. “Black Friday” fires in Australia
The Black Friday fires, which occurred in Australia on January 13, 1939, killed 36 people.
They tore through the province of Victoria and were among the worst natural bushfires in the world.
More 1,300 homes, 3,700 buildings and 69 sawmills were burned – with the flames destroying a devastating 75% of the state in total.
9. Deadly cyclone in Bangladesh
The deadliest tropical cyclone in history struck on November 13, 1970 in Bangladesh.
The Bhola cyclone killed at least 300,000 people, according to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
The storm was equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane, with sustained winds of 115mph. And tragically, one district in Bangladesh lost a whopping 45% of its population.
10. Military plane disappears
Swedish flight DC-3 disappeared while flying over the Baltic Sea on June 13, 1952. Eight people were onboard the plane, which Swedish government insisted was a training flight.
It was later believed the Soviet Union shot the plane down during the Cold War. And almost 40 years after the plane disappeared Swedish officials admitted it was a spy plane.
The wreckage was founding 2003 at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
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