Do people still believe that Friday the 13th brings bad luck? Personally, I think February 29th is worse. If you are born on the leap year day, you hardly ever get to celebrate your birthday properly.
According to snopes, Friday the 13th can be traced back to many generations ago. Individuals avoided all sorts of activities on that day. It is considered an “ancient superstition.” Some declared Friday as a day of bad luck in general. Read more at http://www.snopes.com/luck/friday13.asp#tUae8y6XsYcsXWhU.99
Excerpt from snopes:
“Friday was also said to be a particularly unlucky day on which to undertake anything that represented a beginning or the start of a new venture, thus we find references to all of the following activities as endeavors best avoided on Fridays: Needleworking: “I knew an old lady who, if she had nearly completed a piece of needlework on a Thursday, would put it aside unfinished, and set a few stitches in her next undertaking, that she might not be obliged either to begin the new task on Friday or to remain idle for a day.” (1883)”