3 lucky historic events that took place on Friday the 13th
The date Friday the 13th on the calendar freaks many people out. After all, the day has been synonymous with bad luck throughout history. In fact, some people even have a phobia of Friday the 13th which is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.
Now, scientists say that there is absolutely no evidence stating that if a 13th of a month falls on a Friday, it would be unlucky. Okay then, how did this idea come through in the first place? Turns out, there is a biblical story behind it. It says that there were 13 guests attending the Last Supper including Jesus and his 12 apostles. One of them was Judas who eventually betrayed him. Now, the legend says that it was a Thursday, and the very next day, i.e., the day of Good Friday, Christ was crucified. Since then, Friday and 13th together have been considered unlucky. But what if we told you that there are many positive historic events that took place on Friday the 13th? Here are a few of them for you.
Scientists found water on the moon
On Friday, 13th November 2009, as part of NASA’s Apollo 15 mission, scientists announced that they have found definite proof of water on the lunar surface. A cool discovery, don’t you think? In fact, not only did they find water, but also a significant amount of it. As it turns out, NASA project scientist Anthony Colaprete even shared that they had found about two dozen gallons of water on the south polar side of the moon during a press conference. So, not only was it not unlucky, the event was also one of the most iconic celestial discoveries of the century. Interestingly, what made the discovery doubly special was that majority of the water was traced on the sunlit surface, where the scientists least expected it.
The first royal set foot on the South Pole
Good things not only happened on the lunar South Pole but also the one on Earth, in the the Antarctic South Pole. While many explorers have reached the South Pole in the course of history, starting with the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his crew in December 1911, it was on a Friday the 13th that the first royal ever reached the South Pole. Who was it and when did it happen, you ask? Well, it was none other than the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry. He set his foot on the South Pole on 13th December 2013, a Friday! The prince achieved this feat with the members of a charity foundation called Walking with the Wounded, dedicated to war veterans. He had even been quoted saying, “We get to the South Pole on Friday 13th, unlucky for some, lucky for us.” Interestingly, the team had walked more than 200 miles from their cruise to reach the South Pole, having pulled sleds for more than three weeks. What’s more fascinating is that they were supposed to reach in another 4 to 5 days, but made it early. Do you think it was luck? Well, we think so too!
Super Mario Bros. was released
You do not need to be obsessed with video games to know that Super Mario Bros. was one of the first video games that saw the light of the world. It began as an arcade game, but soon the makers, Nintendo, realised that the gamers wanted a version of it to play from the comforts of their home. So, on Friday, 13th September 1985, the video gaming company laid out the Super Mario Bros. video games in Japan. It was an overnight sensation, so much so, that Nintendo had to launch it in the USA within the span of a month.