The 10 Unluckiest Days from Around the World

Unlucky days aren’t just a spooky movie trope. Around the world, calendars come with their own little landmines: dates people dodge, rituals they follow just in case, and numbers that make elevators skip a button. Sure, you’ve almost certainly heard of Friday the 13th. But that’s only one flavor of bad-luck anxiety. In other places, the troublemaker might be a Tuesday, the 4th day of the month, a ghost month, or a holiday that’s supposed to be joyful but somehow isn’t.

In this list, we’re taking a quick trip through ten of the unluckiest days different cultures side-eye, avoid, or treat with extra caution. Some are ancient, some are oddly specific, and a few will make you wonder how anyone schedules a wedding at all. Whether you’re superstitious or skeptical, these dates have shaped travel plans, business deals, and family stories in surprising ways. Read on… and get ready to check your planner!

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10 Italy: Friday the 17th

In the U.S., Friday the 13th gets all the drama. In Italy, the calendar villain is Friday the 17th (venerdì 17). You might even spot “missing” numbers in hotels or on planes, because some places avoid 17 the way Americans avoid 13. The superstition has a nerdy twist: write 17 as the Roman numeral “XVII,” then shuffle the letters, and you can get “VIXI.” In Latin, that means “I have lived,” which is a phrase linked to old tomb inscriptions, so it reads like a tiny obituary hiding in your date stamp.

There’s even a word for fearing 17: heptadecaphobia. Some people also point to older stories, like the biblical flood beginning on the 17th. Friday adds its own gloomy reputation, too, which is often tied to Good Friday. So, if an Italian friend warns you about venerdì 17, they’re not being dramatic; they’re being culturally prepared. If you want to blend in, avoid major decisions, don’t touch iron, and always flash the little “horns” hand sign (or a cornicello charm) to chase away bad luck. The more you know!^[1]

9 India: August 8th

In parts of India, the number 8 gets side-eyed because it’s linked with Shani, the deity who personifies Saturn in Hindu astrology. Shani is the cosmic auditor: slow, strict, and famous for handing out lessons through delays, discipline, and karmic payback. So when the calendar reads 8/8, some people take it as Saturn with the volume turned up.

This isn’t a nationwide rule, though, and plenty of Indians couldn’t care less. But for people who do follow astrology, the date can feel loaded. On August 8, 2008, news reports described crowds visiting astrologers to ask whether the day would be lucky or unlucky, especially for births and new beginnings. The thinking is that if Saturn is friendly in your chart, 8 can mean endurance and eventual reward. If Saturn is “testing” you, doubling the eights can feel like tempting fate. Either way, 8/8 is the kind of day some people treat carefully: keep plans modest, do a little charity, and let Shani do his paperwork somewhere else. Or, if you’re brave, book the big decision anyway and blame Saturn later.^[2]

8 Greece: Tuesday the 13th

In most of the world, Friday the 13th gets the side-eye. In Greece, it’s Tuesday the 13th. People even have a stock phrase: “Triti kai 13.” And some will avoid travel, big purchases, or anything that feels like tempting fate.

Part of the gloom is in the language. “Tuesday” in Greek is Triti, meaning “third,” and there’s a long-running belief that bad luck comes in threes. Tradition also links Tuesday with Mars (or Ares), the war god, which doesn’t exactly scream “relaxing day off.” The number 13 itself then adds a second layer: Greek folklore treats 12 as “complete,” so 13 is the one that breaks the pattern.

And history gives the superstition teeth: Constantinople was taken on Tuesday, April 13, 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, and the city fell again to the Ottomans on Tuesday, May 29, 1453. No wonder Tuesday feels cursed on its own. And then when it lands on the 13th, Greeks call it a double dose of bad luck. Bonus nerd fact: a Tuesday the 13th only happens in months that start on a Thursday.^[3]

7 UK and USA: the Ides of March

If you’ve ever heard someone say “Beware the Ides of March,” they’re usually not talking about their calendar app. The Ides of March is March 15, and that date has picked up a spooky reputation in the UK and the U.S., mostly because of one famous historical disaster and one even more famous line of Shakespeare. Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BCE, and Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar turned that moment into a perfectly reusable warning for anything that feels doomed.

That’s why March 15 sometimes gets treated like a mini Friday the 13th in English-speaking pop culture. It pops up in headlines, jokes, and social media posts any time something weird happens in mid-March. But it’s usually “ominous” in the same way that a thunderstorm playlist is ominous: fun, dramatic, and mostly for the vibes. Most people still go to work and all that on March 15. They just might side-eye the office stapler a little more than usual.^[4]

6 Spain: Tuesday the 13th

If you grew up side-eyeing Friday the 13th, Spain has a different (but very similar!) date circled in red: martes 13 (Tuesday the 13th). Part of the dread is linguistic. “Martes” comes from Mars, the Roman god of war, so the day already sounds like it’s itching for drama. Add the number 13, which is long linked to chaos and bad breaks across the Christian tradition for much of the world, and you get a superstition combo meal.

There’s also a historical gut punch that Spanish people love to cite: Constantinople was captured during the Fourth Crusade in April 1204, and tradition often points to Tuesday, April 13, as the day everything went spectacularly wrong. (And yet that one wasn’t the Ottoman Turks! It was fellow Christians sacking a Christian city, which is… quite the plot twist.) Anyway, the practical result of all this is an old warning still repeated today: on Tuesday, don’t start big life stuff… especially if it’s Tuesday the 13th.^[5]

5 China: April 4th

China has a number problem. In Mandarin, “four” (sì) is just one tone away from “death” (sǐ), and in Cantonese they sound even closer. So, 4 is the spooky digit, and 4/4 feels like getting “death” stamped twice on the calendar. Japan shares the same itch: one common reading for 4 is shi, which also means “death.”

The superstition leaks into architecture. Some hotels and apartment blocks skip the 4th floor or rename it “3A,” and developers often avoid unit numbers loaded with 4s the way Americans sometimes dodge 13. People may also shun phone numbers and license plates packed with fours. Thus, if you’re in China and your elevator jumps from 3 to 5, it’s probably not a wiring issue.

Bonus coincidence: early April is also when Qingming (tomb-sweeping) lands, a time for visiting graves and honoring ancestors. Thus, when that date hits 4/4, the “don’t tempt fate” crowd gets louder. And then there’s this weird detail: researchers have found Beijing’s traffic rules got tangled up in it, too. Plates ending in 4 were rarer, so “4-restriction” days didn’t remove as many cars from the roads, and traffic jams were worse.^[6]

4 South Asia: the last Wednesday of Safar

If you grew up in parts of India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh, you might have heard whispers about the last Wednesday of Safar, which is the second month on the Islamic lunar calendar. In South Asia, it’s often nicknamed Akhiri Chahar Shambah (literally “the last Wednesday”), and some communities treat it like a small warning label on the calendar. In places like Bangladesh, it’s sometimes framed as a thanksgiving day tied to traditions about the Prophet Muhammad’s final illness and brief improvement.

Either way, people might add extra nafl prayers, give charity, and recite special supplications. In more folk-leaning versions, the goal is protection: some people avoid big purchases, weddings, or travel, and do little “warding off” rituals just in case. Think of it as spiritual insurance, not a horror-movie curse.

The twist is that this isn’t universal, and plenty of Muslim scholars push back hard. They argue Islam rejects omens, and they cite prophetic reports that dismiss Safar as a source of bad luck. So, depending on your family and region, it’s either a day of extra devotion or just another Wednesday.^[7]

3 Japan: September 9th

Japan has a couple of numbers that people side-eye, and 9 is one of the big ones. One common reading for nine is “ku,” which sounds nearly identical to a phonetically similar Japanese word meaning suffering or agony. Put it on a calendar twice (9/9), and you’ve got a “double ku,” which is why some folks would rather not pick September 9 for weddings and other major events.

The belief pops up in small, practical ways. Hospitals and hotels sometimes dodge room numbers that include 9. In everyday speech, people may choose the safer-sounding alternate reading “kyuu” instead of “ku.” Gift etiquette gets dragged into it too: combs are called “kushi,” which can sound like “nine” plus “death,” so they’re a famously awkward present. And number combos like 49 can feel extra cursed because they echo “suffering” and “death.”

Here’s the twist: September 9 is also Chōyō no Sekku, the Chrysanthemum Festival. Traditionally, that’s been a day to ward off bad luck and wish for longevity. So, September 9 can be both good and bad… depending on who you ask.^[8]

2 Japan (Again): Butsumetsu Days

If you’ve ever looked closely at a Japanese calendar, you might spot tiny kanji under the date. That’s rokuyō, a repeating six-day fortune cycle that people still check when booking big life events. One of those labels is Butsumetsu (仏滅), literally “Buddha’s death,” and it’s the one that gets treated like the calendar’s built-in bad-luck sticker. It rolls around every six days, so it’s not rare at all. Instead, it’s just very reliably unpopular.

Rokuyō came to Japan from China around the 14th century, but it only became widely used in the late 19th century, which is why you’ll see it printed alongside the modern Gregorian date. Traditionally, many people avoid scheduling weddings, business openings, community events, or celebratory parties on Butsumetsu. It’s considered broadly inauspicious, while funerals and Buddhist rites are seen as appropriate fits. The opposite label, Taian (“great peace”), is the dream date for ceremonies.

There’s a funny modern twist here, too: because demand drops, some wedding venues offer discounts on Butsumetsu dates, turning “unlucky” into “budget-friendly” for fiscally savvy couples.^[9]

1 United States: Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th isn’t unlucky because of one single ancient rulebook. It’s more like a mash-up of older bad vibes that eventually got stapled together. In Christian tradition, Friday already carried a grim reputation thanks to Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified. Meanwhile, 13 has long been the party guest nobody wants: people point to the Last Supper, with 13 people at the table, and even a Norse story where Loki crashes a banquet as the 13th guest and disaster follows.

Thus, when an already suspect day meets an already suspect number, you get a superstitious superstorm that spreads across much of the Western world, including the United States. Some people also like to point to a dramatic historical footnote: the Knights Templar were arrested on Friday, October 13, 1307. Just another nail in the proverbial coffin.

What really locked the idea in place, though, was pop culture. A bestselling novel from 1907 was literally titled Friday the Thirteenth, helping cement the date’s eerie reputation. Today, the superstition lives on in skipped 13th floors, cautious travel plans, and that tiny voice in nearly all of our heads saying, “Maybe we should just schedule it for next week.”^[10]