Top 10 Most Terrifying Events to Occur on Friday the 13th

One of the most brutal and infamous murder cases in New York took place on Friday the 13th. In the early hours of March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old bar worker, was raped and stabbed outside her apartment building in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Two weeks after the murder, The New York Times published a false report claiming that 38 witnesses had either seen or heard the attack but none had called the police or helped her.

The case sparked debates about what is now known as the "bystander effect" or the "Genovese syndrome," and the murder became a key example in American psychology textbooks for the following four decades. However, further investigations revealed major inaccuracies in the New York Times' report. Police interviews showed that some witnesses had attempted to call the police.

Winston Moseley, a 29-year-old man from Manhattan, was arrested for a burglary six days after the murder. During his detention, he confessed to killing Genovese. In court, Moseley was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, although his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

On Friday, January 13, 2012, the 8-year-old Costa Cruises ship, Costa Concordia, was nearing the end of its Mediterranean voyage when it veered off course near Isola del Giglio, Tuscany. The ship struck an underwater rock, causing it to halt and eventually capsize, coming to rest on a submerged rock outcrop. Despite a six-hour rescue operation that managed to evacuate most of the passengers, 33 people lost their lives: 27 passengers, 5 crew members, and later, a member of the salvage team.

An investigation revealed significant failures on the part of the Costa Concordia crew, especially Captain Francesco Schettino, who abandoned the ship while around 300 passengers were still on board. Most of them were rescued by helicopters or lifeboats in the area. Schettino was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Despite intense criticism, Costa Cruises and its parent company, Carnival Corporation, faced no criminal charges. The operation to salvage the Costa Concordia became one of the largest maritime rescue efforts in history. The total cost of the disaster, including compensation to victims, recovery, towing, and dismantling, is estimated at around $2 billion—three times the $612 million cost of building the ship.

The 1970 Bhola Cyclone (also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970) was a devastating tropical storm that hit East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Bengal, India, on November 13, 1970. It remains the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded and one of the most dangerous natural disasters in history. At least 300,000 people perished in the storm, with estimates possibly reaching up to 500,000, most of whom died due to flooding caused by storm surges that submerged vast areas of the low-lying Ganges Delta. Bhola was the sixth and most powerful cyclone of the 1970 North Indian Ocean season.

The cyclone formed over the central Bay of Bengal on November 8 and strengthened as it moved northward. It peaked with winds reaching 185 km/h on November 10 before making landfall on the East Pakistan coastline the following afternoon. The storm surge devastated many offshore islands, sweeping away villages and destroying crops in its path. In the hardest-hit areas, more than 45% of the population of 167,000 died due to the storm. The Bhola Cyclone remains the deadliest tropical storm in recorded history and one of the most catastrophic natural events in modern history.

The Catalina incident was a Cold War-era military confrontation and diplomatic crisis in June 1952, where Soviet fighter jets shot down two Swedish aircraft over international waters in the Baltic Sea. The first plane to be downed was a Tp 79, a Swedish Air Force variant of the Douglas DC-3, which was gathering intelligence signals and radar information for the Swedish Defence Radio Agency. None of the eight crew members survived. The second aircraft, a Tp47 Catalina flying boat, was part of a search-and-rescue mission for the missing DC-3.

The five-person crew of the Catalina was rescued. The Soviet Union publicly denied any involvement until its dissolution in 1991. Both aircraft were located in 2003, and the DC-3 was subsequently recovered. For nearly 40 years, Sweden maintained that the DC-3 was on a routine navigation training flight. It wasn't until the families of the crew members pushed for answers that Swedish authorities admitted the DC-3 was equipped with British equipment and had been conducting surveillance for NATO. In 1991, General Fyodor Shinkarenko, a Soviet colonel in the early 1950s, admitted that he had ordered the shooting down of the DC-3 in 1952, using a MiG-15bis to intercept the plane.

On Friday, March 13, 1992, the Erzincan earthquake hit eastern Turkey with a magnitude of 6.7 on the Richter scale and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Originating from the eastern part of the Hellenic Trench, where the Aegean and Anatolian tectonic plates converge, and the northern North Anatolian Fault, the quake caused widespread devastation across the region. At least 498 people were killed, approximately 2,000 were injured, and many others went missing. The total financial damage was estimated to range from $1 million to $750 million.

The earthquake resulted in the collapse of at least 150 buildings, with over 8,000 homes damaged. Housing recovery efforts after the quake have been recognized by Turkey's Chamber of Civil Engineers as one of the top 50 civil engineering achievements in the country. A temporary network of 10 seismometers was set up in the area to monitor aftershocks.

The Royal Plaza Hotel collapse occurred on Friday, August 13, 1993, in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand, claiming 137 lives and injuring 227 people. The six-story building crumbled in less than 10 seconds, transforming the complex into a heap of rubble, with only the front elevator lobby remaining intact. The gradual weakening of all support columns on the ground floor led to the collapse of the entire structure when one column failed, followed by the others in a near-total vertical collapse.

Some survivors were rescued from the debris, and victims trapped inside used mobile phones to call for help. Violations of safety regulations and the engineers' lack of professionalism were identified as key factors in the disaster. The building's owner and five others were arrested. The rescue operation continued for more than 20 days, concluding on September 3. The primary cause of the Royal Plaza Hotel collapse was the addition of extra floors without adequate structural assessment or consideration of ground stability. The failure to reinforce the foundations and columns, along with neglecting to assess the strength of existing columns, ultimately led to one of Thailand's worst construction tragedies. This remains one of the most catastrophic and man-made disasters in Thailand's history.

The November 2015 Paris Terror Attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist assaults that took place on Friday, November 13, 2015, in Paris, France, and the northern suburb of Saint-Denis. Starting at 9:15 PM, three suicide bombers attacked outside the Stade de France in Saint-Denis during an international football match after failing to enter the stadium. Another group of assailants opened fire on crowded cafes and restaurants in Paris, with one gunman detonating a rifle and committing suicide. A third group carried out a mass shooting and took hostages at a concert by Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan Theatre, attended by 1,500 people, leading to a police standoff. The attackers were either shot or detonated explosives when the police raided the theatre.

The Paris attackers killed 130 people, including 90 at the Bataclan Theatre. Another 416 were injured, with nearly 100 in critical condition. Seven of the attackers were also killed. These attacks were the deadliest in France since World War II and the most deadly in the European Union since the 2004 Madrid train bombings. The attacks occurred the day after similar bombings in Beirut, Lebanon. France had been on high alert following the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo offices and a Jewish supermarket in Paris, which left 17 dead.

The iconic Buckingham Palace was bombed on Friday, September 13, 1940, during World War II. A 50kg delayed-action bomb first fell in the palace grounds on the 8th of September. The next day, a second bomb dropped near the palace’s northwest swimming pool, exploded, leaving a massive crater and damaging most of the pool. The North Wing of the palace was also affected, and several windows were shattered. This was just part of a sustained bombing campaign that lasted until May 11, 1941.

During this period, German aircraft dropped a total of five high-explosive bombs on Buckingham Palace. The Royal Chapel, the inner quadrangle, the gates of Buckingham Palace, and the Victoria Memorial were all hit. Four workers were injured, one of whom later died. Portraits in the palace corridors were damaged, and the red carpets were lightly covered in dust.

The King and Queen were advised by the Foreign Office to leave the country, but they resolutely refused, showing their courage and unwavering commitment to Britain. Their defiance in the face of Nazi attacks boosted the morale of the British people and fostered a sense of unity across the United Kingdom during the war effort.

The Friday, January 13, 1939 bushfire in Victoria, Australia was part of the devastating 1938-1939 bushfire season, which saw wildfires rage throughout the summer, with ash even falling as far as New Zealand. It is estimated that three-quarters of Victoria was directly or indirectly affected by this disaster, while other Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory also experienced severe fires and intense heat. As of November 3, 2011, this event remains one of Australia's most catastrophic bushfires, ranking as the third deadliest in history.

The fire burned nearly 2,000,000 hectares in Victoria, claiming 71 lives and completely destroying several towns. More than 1,300 homes and 69 sawmills were consumed by the flames, and 3,700 buildings were either destroyed or severely damaged. In response, the Victorian government established a Royal Commission, leading to significant changes in forest management. New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory also faced severe wildfires during the 1939 fire season. These destructive fires swept from the South Coast of New South Wales through mountain ranges and into the interior, reaching Bathurst, while Sydney was surrounded by flames that spread into suburban areas and ignited fierce blazes towards the new capital, Canberra. South Australia also suffered from the fires in the Adelaide Hills.

In mid-July 1951, heavy rainfall caused rivers such as the Kansas River, Missouri River, and surrounding areas in the central United States to rise dramatically. Flooding occurred across the Kansas, Neosho, Marais Des Cygnes, and Verdigris river basins. The damage from the floods in June and July of 1951 across eastern Kansas and Missouri exceeded $935 million (equivalent to $9.76 billion in 2021). The floods claimed 17 lives and forced the evacuation of over 518,000 people.

The 1951 Kansas flood began in May with a flood of Big Creek (a tributary of the Smoky Hill River) in Hays after 11 inches of rain fell in just two hours. The creek overflowed, flooding Hays to a depth of 4 feet. The flooding continued into June with more heavy rains, and the worst of the floods occurred between July 9 and July 13, when 8 to 16 inches (410 mm) of rain fell over the area. The floodwaters reached the highest levels since the Great Flood of 1844 and the 1903 Flood.

The most significant initial damage from the peak flooding occurred in Manhattan and Ft. Riley. The military barracks at Fort Riley were destroyed, and in Manhattan, the downtown commercial area was submerged under 8 feet of water, resulting in two deaths. In Kansas City, floodwaters breached levees protecting the Argentina and Armourdale neighborhoods, forcing 15,000 people to evacuate. Homes in Armourdale were submerged up to the rooftops. The flooding also devastated Kansas City's Stockyards in West Bottoms.