Superstition Times 3: 2015 Calendar Has 3 Friday The 13ths

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Get ready for superstition — times three.

Friday is the first of three Friday the 13ths this year.

Each year has at least one Friday the 13th, but there can be as many as three. 2012 was the last year with three Friday the 13ths; the next will be 2026.

Some people are wearily suspicious of the mysterious date -- they carry four-leaf clovers, won't look into a mirror and stay far, far away from black cats. Heck, even just the number 13 is enough to cause a freak-out. Some hotels elevators jump from 12 to 14 because the building doesn't "technically" have a 13th floor.

There's even a medical term for people who suffer from an irrational fear of Friday the 13th: paraskevidekatriaphobia.

But others embrace the occasion as a chance to celebrate and even test fate -- dare they find a crack to step on or a ladder just waiting to be walked underneath.

But why Friday the 13th? Thomas Fernsler, a professor at the University of Delaware, has studied Friday the 13th extensively; he even went by the nom de plume of Dr. 13 — until he learned of a comic book character of the same name and decided to change his to avoid legal trouble. He now goes by Professor 13.

He says one of the most common explanations for the origin of the date being associated with bad luck stems from the Bible. There were 13 people at the Last Supper — Jesus and his 12 apostles. The Crucifixion took place on a Friday, and the two have been linked ever since. But Fernsler also says Norse mythology asserts that the god Loki went uninvited to a party of 12 other gods and caused the death of the most beloved one, Baldur.

To this day, parties are wary of having 13 members, he says. In Paris, there are businesses that will rent you a professional 14th dinner guest, called a quatorzieme.

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