Friday the 13th

Every day Finance takes a glance at a bunch of past financial nightmares that happened to land on this day. And while some are a tiny little bit of a stretch, there is some that are definitely bona fide bummers.

Friday the 13th is not a spooky day for someone worried about serial killers named Jason hunting them down in the work of a homicidal rampage. Turns out it is and a unfortunate day when it comes to financial disasters, as a few bad ones have struck on this most superstitious of days. No hockey masks involved, however.
January 13, 2012: The Costa Concordia hits a reef and sinks, killing 30 passengers and damages of over $500 million.
Also January 13, 2012: Standard and Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of several countries, including France, Austria, France, Portugal and France, setting off fears of the European debt crisis.
October 13, 1989: UAL Corporation, the parent corporation of United Airlines, announced a leveraged buyout deal had fallen through. Panic set in, leading to a collapse of the junk bond market, and plunging values in the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ. Became known as Friday the 13th Mini-Crash.
January 13, 1939: Australia's Black Friday Fires burned million acres of land, destroyed,700 buildings and killed 71 people.