There were 13 people at the Last Supper
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There's a second story about a dinner involving 13 people that is also partially responsible for the Friday the 13th superstition. This was, of course, the Last Supper, in which 13 people ate together on the day before the Friday that Jesus was crucified. What's more, is that the attendees were Jesus and his 12 apostles—including Judas, who ended up betraying him. Having 13 guests, and then Jesus being crucified on a Friday has led some to believe that Friday the 13th is bad luck.
"When those two events come together, you are reenacting at least a portion of that terrible event," Phil Stevens Jr., PhD, an associate professor of anthropology at the University at Buffalo, told TIME. "You are reestablishing two things that were connected to that terrible event." Find out hidden messages in DaVinci's The Last Supper and other famous paintings.
13 is considered an unlucky number
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If you have "triskaidekaphobia," that means you have a fear of the number 13—and you're not alone. In addition to having 13 guests at two unlucky dinner gatherings, there are other reasons why the number 13 is thought to be a harbinger of bad luck. Part of that has to do with the fact that in some cultures, 12 is considered the "perfect" number: there are 12 months in a year, two 12-hour half days, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 days of Christmas, 12 zodiac signs, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 gods of Olympus, and so on. Basically, 12 was a tough act to follow—to the point where people then thought that 13 was unlucky. To this day, there are still high-rise buildings where there is no 13th floor (or, more accurately, the elevator buttons go from 12 to 14). Here's more on why 13 is considered an unlucky number.
Thomas William Lawson's book
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In 1907, a writer named Thomas William Lawson published a book called Friday the 13th, in which an unethical stockbroker takes advantage of people's belief in the superstition on that day to win big on the stock market. This became known as "Wall Street hoodoo-day." Though this was a work of fiction, it planted the idea of Friday the 13th being an unlucky day in people's minds.
Why Is Friday the 13th Considered Unlucky?, Source:https://www.rd.com/culture/friday-the-13th/
