Top five good things that happened on Friday the 13th

For those who suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia, the lone Friday the 13th in 2011 is a cause for anxiety. Luckily, that fear is unfounded, because Friday the 13th doesn't have to be a bad thing.

In fact, many positive events have transpired on the feared day. Here are just a few.

5. The opening ceremony of the historic 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, took place on Friday, August 13, 2004. The ceremony in the birthplace of the Olympiad went off without a hitch.

4. This year Jupiter will line up in the sky with Venus, Mercury and Mars on Friday, May 13. The once-in-a-lifetime astrological spectacle will be visible in Australia. It is not expected to trigger the end of the world.

3. Black Sabbath released their self-titled first album on Friday, February 13, 1970. Just try and imagine a world without Ozzy Osbourne.

2. American founding father Benjamin Franklin wrote his famous aphorism, "Everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes," on Friday, November 13, 1789.

1. Whether this event qualifies as "good" remains up for debate, but the Olsen twins were born on Friday, June 13, 1986.

The evidence to support fear of Friday the 13th is close to non-existent. In fact, nobody can even pin down how the superstition started. Some link it to numerology, others to the day Jesus was crucified, while others still see a link to Norse mythology. Dan Brown popularized a connection between Friday the 13th and the Knights Templar in his 2003 novel "The Da Vinci Code," but, according to experts, the link is tenuous at best.

However, if you insist on fearing the future, 2012 is going to be a big year for you. Not only is the world rumoured to be ending, but there will be three Friday the 13ths — in January, April and July.

(Photo credit: Lucas Jackson/Reuters)