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Friday the 13th and Mine Disasters
Friday the 13th will occur in any month that begins on a Sunday

Definitions

Friday the 13thTriskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13 and avoidance to use it.  It is a superstition which may have arisen from the specific fear of the thirteenth person at the Last Supper being Judas, who betrayed Jesus Christ and ultimately hanged himself.

It may also be related to the time when King Philip IV of France, in collusion with then Pope Clement V, had Grand Master Jacques de Molay and sixty of his Templar brothers arrested as apostates on Friday, October 13, 1307 View the planets for this day.  This was done in order to claim the famed properties and wealth of the Knights Templars as their own.

Friggatriskaidekaphobia is a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th.  Friday is Frigga's Day.  Frigga (Frigg) was an ancient Scandinavian fertility and love goddess, equivalent to the Roman Venus who had been worshipped on the sixth day of the week.  Christians called Frigga a witch and Friday the witches' Sabbath; modern Wiccans are happy to oblige.

Of all the accidents in the Mine Disaster Database on this site containing disaster records since 1839, just FOUR of them have occurred on Friday the 13th.



Mine Disaster Calendar
Friday, February 13, 1874  View the planets for this day  View the moon phase for this day
Phoenix Mine Explosives Disaster
Phoenix, Michigan
No. killed: 6

Friday, October 13, 1905  View the planets for this day  View the moon phase for this day
Vesta Coal Company
Clyde Mine Fire
Fredericktown, Pennsylvania
No. killed: 6

Friday, August 13, 1920  View the planets for this day  View the moon phase for this day
W. W. Boxley and Company
Pounding Mill Quarry Explosives Disaster
Pounding Mill, Virginia
No. Killed: 9

Friday, May 13, 1927  View the planets for this day  View the moon phase for this day
Central Pocahontas Coal Company
Shannon Branch No. 3 Mine Explosion
Capels, West Virginia
No. Killed: 8

For all you triskaidekaphobes, there are 36 mine accidents in our database that have occurred on the 13th of the month.  These are listed in the table below.

Date Mine Name Location Deaths Planets
04/13/1859 Bright Hope Mine Explosion Clover Hill, VA 9 View the planets for this day
08/13/1860 Hoch Colliery Explosion Forestville, PA 2 View the planets for this day
02/13/1874 Phoenix Mine Explosives Disaster Phoenix, MI 6 View the planets for this day
03/13/1884 Laurel Mine Explosion Pocahontas, VA 112 View the planets for this day
05/13/1885 North Ashland Inundation North Ashland, PA 5 View the planets for this day
11/13/1885 Bull Domingo Fire Silver Cliff, CO 10 View the planets for this day
09/13/1886 Marvine Mine Cave-in Scranton, PA 8 View the planets for this day
03/13/1893 Choctaw Mine Explosion Alderson, OK 9 View the planets for this day
02/13/1894 Gaylord Mine Roof Fall Plymouth, PA 13 View the planets for this day
01/13/1897 Wadesville Mine Shaft Disaster Wadesville, PA 5 View the planets for this day
01/13/1902 Milby and Dow Mine Fire Dow, OK 10 View the planets for this day
10/13/1905 Clyde Mine Fire Fredericktown, PA 6 View the planets for this day
05/13/1908 Prospect Mine Roof Fall Midvale, PA 5 View the planets for this day
04/13/1909 Granville Quarry Landslide Granville, NY 5 View the planets for this day
11/13/1909 St. Paul No. 2 Mine Fire Cherry, IL 259 View the planets for this day
04/13/1910 Nazareth Quarry Explosion Nazareth, PA 11 View the planets for this day
03/13/1911 Elba Cave-in Gilbert, MN 2 View the planets for this day
05/13/1912 Norrie Mine Cave-in Ironwood, MI 7 View the planets for this day
08/13/1912 Abernant Mine Explosion Abernant, AL 18 View the planets for this day
12/13/1916 Fidelity No. 9 Mine Explosion Stone City, KS 20 View the planets for this day
03/13/1917 Henderson No. 1 Mine Explosion Hendersonville, PA 14 View the planets for this day
08/13/1920 Pounding Mill Explosives Disaster Pounding Mill, VA 9 View the planets for this day
12/13/1921 Satanic Mine Fire Morrison, CO 6 View the planets for this day
01/13/1926 No. 21 Mine Explosion Wilburton, OK 91 View the planets for this day
05/13/1927 Shannon Branch 3 Mine Explosion Capels, WV 8 View the planets for this day
01/13/1930 Peerless Mine Explosion Straven, AL 5 View the planets for this day
06/13/1932 Splashdam No. 6 Mine Explosion Splashdam, VA 10 View the planets for this day
08/13/1936 Mountain City Mine Asphyxiation Mountain City, NV 6 View the planets for this day
03/13/1941 Revloc No. 1 Explosion Revloc, PA 4 View the planets for this day
12/13/1952 Elkhorn No. 3 Mine Fire Evanston, KY 4 View the planets for this day
11/13/1954 Jamison No. 9 Mine Explosion Farmington, WV 16 View the planets for this day
08/13/1963 Sheppton Mine Cave-in Sheppton, PA 1 View the planets for this day
04/13/1978 Beatrice Mine Roof Fall Keen Mountain, VA 3 View the planets for this day
09/13/1989 William Station 9 Mine Explosion Sullivan, KY 10 View the planets for this day
02/13/1991 J & T No. 1 Mine Roof Fall St. Charles, VA 4 View the planets for this day
01/13/2007 Cucumber Mine Roof Fall Cucumber, WV 2 View the planets for this day

Click here to download the Friday the 13th list from 1801 till 2199.

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