Few facts about Friday the 13th

Today is the Friday the 13th and to "commemorate" this occasion, here are few facts about Friday the 13th and the number 13 in general. Usually, there are only myths surrounding this phenomenon, but i scoured the Internet trying to facts.

• Fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. Now that I am in Cyprus where Greek is spoken, i can understand the root of this word. Friday in Greek is paraskevi, Thirteen is Dekathria (Deca = 10, Thria = 3) and phobia, as we all know, is fear. On a related note, fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia.
• More than 21 million Americans suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia.
• The next Friday the 13th will occur in June 2008.
• Fidel Castro was born on Friday the 13th of August 1926.
• On Friday the 13th of April 2029, asteroid 2004 MN4 will come extremely close to Earth, but will not collide, at least i hope it doesn't.
• The Year 2038 Bug will strike on Tue Jan 19 03:14:07 2038, when the signed integer used to store time in computers will reach its maximum value and when incremented, it moves to its lowest negative value i.e. -2147483648, which when represeted as time is Friday the 13th of December 1901 8:45 PM!

Some facts/myths related to the number 13.

• The house number 13 in Florence, Italy is addressed as 12 and a half.
• A Hangman's Noose has only 6 or 8 knots and not 13, as the myth goes.
• The car in which Princess Diana was traveling when she was killed, hit pillar #13 in Pont de l'Alma road tunnel.
• The American Flag has 13 stripes on it, representing the original 13 colonies which formed the US.

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