Do you suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia? If so, you and roughly 20 million other people are problem terrified by what your calender is telling you right now, according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in North Carolina.
Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th, a day long thought to be full of bad luck.
It only happens once this year but in 2009 the 13th day of a month will land on a Friday a whopping three times – in February, March and November.
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute, an estimated $750 million will be lost across the country in business because people will not shop, travel or take risks of any kind today.
It is also a fact, according to the institute, that the United States Navy does not launch ships on Friday the 13th.
Some of the famous people born on a Friday the 13th are former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, former Prime Minister of Englan Margaret Thatcher and Will Clark, the former Mississippi State and major league baseball star. Those who died on the day include musicians Benny Goodman and Tupac Shakur.
