Black Friday (shopping) the holiday season, beginning on the day after Thanksgiving. When this was recorded in the financial records, once-common accounting practices would use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink to show positive amounts. Black Friday, under this theory, is the beginning of the period when retailers would no longer be "in the red", instead taking in the year's profits. The earliest known published reference to this explanation occurs in "The Philadelphia Inquirer" for November 28, 1981. In 2013, an internet rumor alleged that the phrase originated in the American south before the Civil War, from the practice of
Friday the 13th are on the 13th. The 13th day of the month is slightly more likely to be a Friday than any other day of the week. On average, there is a Friday the 13th once every 212.35 days, whereas Thursday the 13th occurs only once every 213.59 days. In the 2010s there were three Friday the 13ths in 2012 and 2015, and two in 2013, 2017 and 2018. There will also be two in 2019 and 2020. In the 2020s, there will be three F13's in 2026, and two in 2020, 2023, 2024, and 2029. The rest of years have at