Friday the thirteenth? The legend began with the Egyptians.

 In the Bible (Exodus 12 verse 6) it talks about killing the passover lamb on the evening of the 14th day of the first month. It is important to understand the Jewish day starts at SUNSET, not at midnight (as we do today) and the Ancient Egyptians started their day at SUNRISE. So when the Angel of Death Struck at midnight, it was on the 13th day of the Egyptian month, and the 14th day of the Israelite month. Hence, to the Egyptians, it was a day of terror, while for the Israelites it was a day of freedom. 

In 1881 an influential group of New Yorkers led by US Civil War veteran Captain William Fowler came together to put an end to this Friday the 13th and other superstitions. They formed a dinner cabaret club, which they called the Thirteen Club. At the first meeting, on Friday, January 13, 1881, at 8:13 p.m., thirteen people sat down to dine in Room 13 of the venue. The guests walked under a ladder to enter the room and were seated among piles of spilled salt. Many Thirteen Clubs sprang up all over North America for the next 40 years. Their activities were regularly reported in leading newspapers, and their numbers included five future US presidents, from Chester A. Arthur to Theodore Roosevelt. Thirteen Clubs had various imitators, but they all gradually faded from interest.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, the arrest of the Knights Templar was ordered by Philip IV of France. So the Templars had a hand in the superstition of Friday the 13th.

But to the Christian this day is a day of rejoicing.

Psalm 118:24

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.