Are you friggatriskaidekaphobic? Or paraskevidekatriaphobic? – do you have a morbid fear of Friday 13th.

I decided I wasn't superstitious when a brother who was born on Friday 13th made millions and retired in his early 50's, the biggest decision made each day is where he will cast his fishing rod.

I am bitter but not superstitious. Especially because we are halfway through another Friday the 13th, nothing untoward has happened and there is another Friday 13 in approximately 212.35 days.

'Friday 13th is bollocks,” said a young colleague. She was quite adamant. But when I asked her if she would get married on Friday 13th - no, she probably wouldn't.

And fate certainly has intervened on Friday 13th.

The Nazi's dropped a bomb on Buckingham Palace on Friday the 13th of September 1940 during the blitz. It might have been war but it wasn't cricket.

On Friday the 13th, October 1972, a plane crashed in the Andes and the survivors resorted to cannibalism.

On Friday, May 13, 1925, the state of Tennessee declared it unlawful to teach evolution – only the biblical story of creation for them.

The stock market suffered a catastrophic crash – the second most damaging in market history – down 190.58 points. That was Friday, October 13, 1989.

A deadly virus crashed IMB computers in the UK. That was before backups – valuable, irreplaceable data flew off into the ether.

The Costa Concordia partially sank on a Friday 13 in January 2012. Thirty dead. And Alfred Hitchcock, the British film maker, the master of suspense was born on Friday the 13th.

He was variously described as weird or an artistic genius. However, in his wisdom he did say that the length of a movie should be directly related to the endurance of a human bladder. He would have turned 100 on August 13, 1999, which was, of course a Friday.

Back to friggatriskaidekaphobia.

Many people avoid travel and avoid signing contracts on Friday the 13th. Floors in tall buildings often skip from 12 to 14 and street number jump from 11 to 15. And apparently $900 million is lost every Friday the 13th because people are scared to work and travel on this date.

The superstition has deep roots in Christian and pagan culture. Of course Christians believe Friday was unlucky because it was the day Jesus was crucified. And 13 brought bad luck because Judas, the betrayer, was the 13th invitee at The Last Supper.

But it wasn't until the late 19th century that there was documented evidence of people putting stories about Friday and the number 13 together and coming up with the unluckiest day of all.

There's a modern myth about this unfortunate number. It says you will suffer the devil's luck if you have 13 letters in your name. Look at Jack the Ripper.

In the meantime, here at SunLive we have put up our umbrellas inside and stepped on a crack under step ladder. We await the consequences.