A phobia is defined as an irrational fear or an aversion to something, some people who have phobias can be very serious about them. Whether you believe in phobias or not, the reasons for the fears often turn out to be just odd coincidences.

Triskaidekaphobia is a strange word which means a fear of the number 13; some people are bothered by the number thirteen and others pay no attention to it. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle; it doesn't seem to bother me, but whenever I hear thirteen mentioned I think about all the controversy associated with that number. In cities many buildings are built without that number thirteen floor. The fear of Friday the 13th is known as paraskevidekatriaphobia. I've always heard that there's both good and bad to nearly everything; maybe that applies to phobias also.

The two pictures shown above were taken by my friend Ira Harrison on September 13, 2019, that just happened to be a Friday the 13th. A full moon occurring on a Friday the 13th is very rare; the next one won't happen again until August 13, 2049. Some other pictures Ira took are in an earlier column I wrote about photography.

Another odd incident occurred in Suffolk, England on August 13, 2010 when a 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning; luckily, he was unharmed. That was also a Friday the 13th, it happened at 1:13 p. m. or 13:13 military time.

Good things associated with Friday the 13th:

Didi Conn                                  born on 7-13-1951

Tony Dow                                  born on 4-13-1945

Julia Louis Dreyfuss                  born on 1-13-1961

Ashley & Mary Kay Olson          born on 6-13-1988

According to the American Museum of Natural History, famous explorer Roy Chapman Andrews discovered the first dinosaur eggs at a dig in Mongolia on July 13, 1923. Sara Andrews Applebee, a member of the Sherman High School Class of 1965, is the granddaughter of Roy Chapman Andrews.

On that same July 13, 1923 the famous Hollywood Sign in Southern California was dedicated.

On August 13, 2004 the Summer Olympics returned to Athens, Greece, the country where they first began.

Bad things associated with Friday the 13th:

Tim Russert                          passed away on June 13, 2008

Mickey Spillane                    passed away on May 13, 1977

On November 12, 1970 300,000 people were killed in Bangladesh in the Bhola Cyclone, the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded.

There are many phobias, some are pretty common while some others are really strange.

Common phobias:

Acrophobia                     fear of heights

Aerophobia                      fear of flying

Agoraphobia                    fear of crowds

Claustrophobia              fear of closed in spaces

Hemophobia                         fear of blood
                                                   
Strange phobias:

Bathmophobia           fear of stairs or steep slopes

Hylophobia                             fear of forests

Mysophobia                  fear of dirt and germs

Nomophobia             fear of being without mobile phone coverage

Pogophobia                          fear of beards     

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words, a shorter word for it is sesquipedalophobia and phobophobia is the fear of phobias.

If you have any comments or questions my e-mail address is deh63shs@yahoo.com.