Today is Friday the 13th. Some people believe that the number 13 is unlucky. In fact, there’s even a word for fear of the number 13: Triskaidekaphobia. Some people believe that Friday the 13th is an especially unlucky day. If you are afraid of Friday the 13th, you have paraskevidekatriaphobia.

This is the first of three Friday the 13ths in 2012. The other two are in April and July. We won’t have three in one year again until 2015, and not again after that until 2026!

Read about the history of the Friday the 13th superstition on National Geographic News.

Read about phobias on National Geographic Kids.

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