Friday the Thirteenth in America
How did Friday the 13th become a day surrounded by superstition?
In checking into the background of it, I was surprised to learn that Friday itself has long been viewed as an unlucky day. In today’s culture, I think most of us like Friday because we are anticipating the pleasure of a weekend. That seems to be a more modern phenomenon that must have arrived when unions began to insist on the concept of the weekend or equivalent.
Friday is thought to have gotten a bad rap because Friday was the day that Jesus was crucified. Long after that, The Canterbury Tales put forth the idea that a Friday was a bad day to begin a journey.
Fear of 13
Experts say that the dread of 13 is rooted in ancient history, with no one story where we can proclaim, “this is the beginning.” Ancient Greeks and Romans practiced numerology, and they considered 13 to be a number signaling destruction. Witches’ covens were believed to involve 13 members. Norse mythology tells of 12 gods having dinner together when a 13th uninvited god appeared and played a trick on them all.
Ancient Vikings considered the number 13 unlucky and their hangman’s noose always has 13 knots. There are also13 steps to the gallows. Thirteen people attended the Last Supper; the 13th guest was Judas who betrayed Jesus.
As we move forward in time, I have read about how throughout the 19th century, ship captains preferred not to start journeys on Fridays, and definitely not on Friday the 13th.
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, other popular songs for New Year’s are It was a Very Good Year (Frank Sinatra), Imagine by John Lennon, and What a Wonderful World made popular by Louis Armstrong.
Given the season, you may already have guessed that “Auld Lang Syne” is the song to which I’m referring. 
In the midst of all the holiday chaos, many Americans still set aside an evening to load the family into the car and drive around to see the neighborhood holiday decorations.
Who will be first to ring your doorbell on Halloween? A ghost, a witch, a pumpkin with arms, or a Transformer?
By the late 1800s, Hallow’s Eve had become a time for mischief-making. 
The tradition of carving faces into vegetables dates to the Celts. As part of their autumnal celebration, they wanted to light the way to their homes for the good spirits, so they carved faces into vegetables such as turnips and squash. A light was placed within the hollowed out vegetable.
