Congratulations. It’s Saturday the 14th and you’re still here … hopefully.
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It may surprise you that paraskevidekatriaphobia is an actual thing: a fear of Friday the 13th. Some sources call it friggatriskaidekaphobia. (Insert your own joke here.)
But the idea of combining the two things – Fridays and the 13th day – is relatively recent. It’s not reliably reported until the 19th Century, but there’s been some back-filling on history.
For example, it’s claimed it began on Friday, October 13, 1307 when Phillip the Fourth of France arrested and eventually tortured and executed hundreds of Knights Templar. But in reality, that date was only noted as a bad luck day 700 years later.
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Friday the 13th has also been scientifically studied.
The blandly named Stress Management Centre and Phobia Institute in the US estimated about 6.5 per cent of the population genuinely feared the day. If that rate is valid, then 7800 Bendigonians had an edgy day yesterday.
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Down The Mall was stunned by this bargain which popped up on a Bendigo online trading site this week.
4WD. Needs some work to finish. No RWC. Collectors barn find. Need space for other project. $2,000.
Some asked what it’d need to pass a roadworthy, while one commented on the fabulous camouflage paint job.