Friday the 13th Coincidences in Recent Times

Although today isn’t Friday the 13^th, the first Friday the 13^th of the year is in 15 days. For this reason, I decided to have a blog entry related to Friday the 13^th facts. But if you want to know, I have extensive details about some past Friday the 13ths, at least in the 21^st Century. Because of the 28-year cycle and changes in society, some of these Friday the 13ths were the first or the last of their kind. One thing that’s especially worth noting that the next month to have the same month arrangement April and July had is September of the following year, not the current year. That means, there is a 14-month break between two dates, unless if the following year is a leap year. For example, July 1^st lands on a Wednesday this year. The next time the first of the month to land on a Wednesday after that is September 1^st of the next year. This year, September 1^st lands on a Tuesday, so it would be over a year that we wouldn’t see a month begin on a Wednesday once July passes this year.

Friday the 13^th and Tragedy:

Did you know? The first Friday the 13^th after the 9/11 Attacks was also the first Friday the 13^th after 9/11’s first anniversary.

It’s actually true. In 2001, the last Friday the 13^th landed in July. The next time Friday the 13^th would occur was in September of 2002. If you don’t like Friday the 13^th, that gave you a 14-month break before the next day of bad luck. Except that we did have another day of bad luck, and it was a horrific tragedy. That day was September 11^th, 2001. It’s also worth noting that the 11^th always comes before the 13^th, so after the 9/11 Attacks, we didn’t see another Friday the 13^th until after the first anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks.

Amazingly, both the last Friday the 13^th before the 9/11 Attacks and the first Friday the 13^th after the 9/11 Attacks were at either ends of the 28-year cycle. The last Friday the 13^th before the 9/11 Attacks was July 13^th, 2001. July 13^th, 2001 was the first time Friday the 13^th occurred in July since 1990. That means, throughout the entire 90’s decade (assuming that it started in 1991 and ended in 2000), there was no Friday the 13^th in April or July.

On the other side, the first Friday the 13^th after the 9/11 Attacks was September 13^th, 2002. September 13^th, 2002 was the last time Friday the 13^th occurred in September within the 28-year cycle. The next time it would occur in September was in 2013. Between the two September Friday the 13ths, more tragedies happened, including the entirety of the Iraq War, multiple mass shootings (Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook being the most memorable), other terrorist attacks (such as the Benghazi terror attack and Boston Marathon Bombing), and some of the biggest natural disasters (2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, 2010 Haitian Earthquake, and the 2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami). Now if the world did end in 2012, then the first Friday the 13^th after the 9/11 Attacks would be the last time Friday the 13^th would ever occur in September.

Here’s another interesting fact. In the year 9/11 happened, Friday the 13^th landed in both April and July. The next three years Friday the 13^th landed in April and July (2007, 2012, and 2018), there was at least one school shooting that was more memorable than the others. In 2007, there was the Virginia Tech Massacre. In 2012, there was the Sandy Hook Massacre. In 2018, there was the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting. Those three years, as well as 2001, were all of the years in that 28-year-cycle where April and July had a Friday the 13^th, which is expected to end in 2028. Next time April and July will have a Friday the 13^th, it will be in 2029. Hopefully, the world would be better by then.

Friday the 13^th and Daylight Savings:

So right now, we still have to change the clock by one hour, twice a year, though State Congresses are still fighting against it. The last time major legislation affected it was in 2005 via the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Between 1976 to 2006, Daylight Savings Time began on the first Sunday of April and ended on the last Sunday of October. But starting 2007, Daylight Savings Time began on the second Sunday of March and ended on the first Sunday of November. Both March and November always begin on the same day of the week, even during the leap years. But April and October always started on different days of the week, where October usually shares its arrangement with January, and April always sharing its arrangement with July.

What this means is that before the change in Daylight Savings Time in 2007, either the month that DST begins or the month DST ends can have a Friday the 13^th. But after the change, both the month that DST begins in and the month DST ends in will either have a Friday the 13^th, or no Friday the 13^th at all. And guess what! This year is another year DST begins in and ends in months with a Friday the 13^th.

Here are some interesting facts about Friday the 13^th in this sense:

• The last month Friday the 13^th occurred in a month Daylight Savings Time began without occurring in a month Daylight Savings Time ended was April 2001. The next year Friday the 13^th occurred in April was 2007, the first year Daylight Savings Time began in March.
• The last month Friday the 13^th occurred in a month Daylight Savings Time ended without occurring in a month Daylight Savings Time began was October 2006. Coincidentally, that was the last time Daylight Savings Time ended in October.

Using the 28-year cycle, April 13^th, 2001 was the first time Friday the 13^th landed in April in over 11 years. That meant that Friday the 13^th will occur in April three more times within the next 17 years. Just only the first one happened in a month Daylight Savings Time began. At the same time, October 2006 wasn’t just the last time Daylight Savings Time ended in October in the United States. It was the last time Friday the 13^th landed in October within the 28-year cycle. The next time Friday the 13^th would land in October since Daylight Savings Time began in March was in 2017, ten years after they started changing the clocks in March and November.

It doesn’t stop here. After the last time Daylight Savings Time ended in October, it wouldn’t end in a month with a Friday the 13^th until 2009, when it ended on November 1^st, 2009. The first year Friday the 13^th occurred in both March and November since we started changing the clocks in March and November were also the first time Friday the 13^th occurred in both March and November since 1998. Coincidentally, March and November were the last two months to have their first Friday the 13ths in the 21^st Century. There was also only one time when Friday the 13^th occurred in both months we change the clocks without occurring in the other months, and that was the year COVID-19 was the most dominant topic.

If Congress can pass a resolution, and any of the next three years are the last years Daylight Savings Time can begin in or end in, there will be coincidences:

• If March 8^th, 2026 is the last day we change the clocks, the last time we’ll ever change the clocks occurs in a month with a Friday the 13^th, and Friday the 13^th won’t occur in March for 11 years.
• If November 1^st, 2026 is the last day we change the clocks, the last time we’ll ever change the clocks occurs in a month with Friday the 13^th, and Friday the 13^th won’t occur in November for 11 years.
• If March 14^th, 2027 is the last day we change the clocks, the first Friday the 13^th after DST was made permanent is the only Friday the 13^th of the year.
• If November 7^th, 2027 is the last day we change the clocks, both the last Friday the 13^th before DST ends for good and the first Friday the 13^th after DST ends for good are the lone Friday the 13ths within their years.
• If March 12^th, 2028 is the last day we change the clocks, the first Friday the 13^th after DST was made permanent will occur in the month of Halloween (and a month we previously ended DST in).
• If November 5^th, 2028 is the last day we change the clocks, the first Friday the 13^th after we abolish DST will occur in April 2029, a month we previously began DST in.

Friday the 13^th and the Presidents:

Did you know? Throughout the entire time Barack Obama was president, there were three years that had three Friday the 13ths, but the only month to never have a Friday the 13^th was October.

The same can also be said about Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower, but throughout the entire Obama presidency, there were three years that had three Friday the 13ths. The first year was 2009, which was the year he took office. The second year was 2012, the year he got reelected. The last year was 2015, when the last Congress during his presidency was in session. Amazingly enough, the first three Friday the 13ths within the first Obama Administration all occurred in the same year. The last three Friday the 13ths within the first Obama Administration also occurred within the same year.

Within the eight years he was in office, Friday the 13^th occurred 16 times. It only occurred once each in April, June, July, August, September, and December within his presidency, and twice within January, February, March, May, and November. This makes October the only month where Friday the 13^th never occurred in when he was president. If you want to know why this is a big deal, it’s because October is the month of Halloween, and Halloween is the holiday of scary things.

If Trump finishes his second term, and our elections in the United States don’t change, here are some coincidences related to Donald Trump and Friday the 13^th:

• The first Friday the 13^th when Trump was in office was in October. The last Friday the 13^th when Trump was in office was in October.
• In all four years Donald Trump was president the first time, there were two Friday the 13ths each. But in all four years Donald Trump was president the second time, only one of them had three Friday the 13ths, and the other three had one Friday the 13^th each.
• The first Friday the 13^th since Trump took office for the first time was also the first Friday the 13^th after the first Total Solar Eclipse over the United States that moved from coast to coast to have its greatest eclipse over the United States. It would also be the first time Friday the 13^th landed in October for 11 years.
• The first Friday the 13^th of his second administration was before his first birthday during his second term. The next one will be in 15 days.

Other Friday the 13^th Coincidences:

As a showstopper, I have a few more Friday the 13^th facts about when they previously occurred:

• The last Friday the 13^th of the 20^th Century landed in October, the month of Halloween.
• The first Friday the 13^th of the 21^st Century was also Good Friday.
• The last two times Friday the 13^th landed in the months of the Summer Olympics were in 2004 and 2021. The former of these two Olympics events was set in Greece, where the Olympics originated in. The latter of these two was the only time the Summer Olympics has ever been delayed within its history.
• The first Friday the 13^th since the Declaration of Independence signed occurred in September. September was also the first month to have a Friday the 13^th during both the Civil War and World War II.
• Since Franklin D Roosevelt became president, no Republican has won a US Presidential Election in the same year Friday the 13^th occurred in November, the month of the election.
• Both the month A New Hope and Return of the Jedi came out in theaters in a month with a Friday the 13^th. Although the Empire Strikes Back didn’t come out in theaters during a month with a Friday the 13^th, it did come out in theaters in the same month as the movie Friday the 13^th (the first version, no less).
• On a related note, all three “third movies” in a Star Wars trilogy came out in theaters in a month with a Friday the 13^th.
• The next two Friday the 13ths after this post occur exactly four days before another festive holiday – Lunar New Year/Mardi Gras for this month, and St. Patrick’s Day for the next month.