It's time to celebrate the most glorious weekday! For many students and employees, Friday signals the end of the work week and a reason to meet up with friends and celebrate.

This day is obviously one of the favorites for many people around the world... unless it is Friday the 13th of course.

Let's find out with these fun facts about Friday!

1. The English name Friday comes from the Old English Frīġedæġ, meaning "Day of Frige."
This is as a result of the Old English goddess Frigg (an Anglo-Saxon interpretation of the Norse goddess Freya) being associated with the Roman goddess Venus.
This is the same within several other languages, including the Old High German Frīatag and Modern German Frietag, as well as Vrijdag in Dutch.

2. In astrology, Friday is connected with the planet Venus and is symbolized by that planet's symbol.

3. Friday is also associated with the astrological signs of Libra and Taurus.

4. In most languages that are derived from Latin, Friday is derived from the words "dies Veneris" (day of Venus), like "Vendredi" is French, "Venerdì" in Italian, and "Viernes" in Spanish.

5. In Japanese, the word for Friday is formed from the words kinsei, meaning Venus (which literally translates as "gold + water"), and yōbi, meaning day.

6. In Portuguese, also a language derived from Latin, the word for Friday is "Sexta-feira," meaning "sixth day of liturgical celebration" and is derived from the Latin "Feria Sexta" which was used in religious texts where it was forbidden to consecrate days to pagan gods.

7. A popular American acronym is "TGIF," which means "Thank God It's Friday."

8. In the U.S., the term "Black Friday" sometimes refers to the day after Thanksgiving, which is traditionally the first day of the Christmas shopping season.
The retail madness seen in stores across the U.S. on Black Friday first resulted in the death of a retail employee in 2008 when, upon opening doors to a 2,000-strong crowd of shoppers in Valley Stream, New York, the employee was trampled by to death by the rushing crowd.
Since then there have been multiple reports of people being shot, stabbed, beaten, trampled, and even pepper-sprayed during Black Friday sales.

9. In the U.K. and Australia, Friday is sometimes referred to by the acronym "POETS Day," which stands for "Piss Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday."

10. In the maritime world, it is considered highly unlucky to begin a voyage on a Friday.

11. In Christianity, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter and it commemorates the day of Jesus' crucifixion.

12. In the Thai Solar Calendar, blue is the color associated with Friday.

13. Friday the 13^th, although considered lucky in some parts of the world, is often a day of superstition for most people in the western world, and the fear of Friday the 13^th is known as paraskavedekatriaphobia.

14. In 1719 the Daniel Defoe novel Robinson Crusoe, the main character meets a native to the island he's stranded on, with whom he cannot communicate at first. Crusoe and calls him Friday as this is the day of the week when he meets him.
The expression "Man Friday" comes from the character Friday in the novel Robinson Crusoe, and is used to describe a particularly loyal or competent male personal assistant.

15. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were born together on Friday the 13th June 1986.

16. The term "Friday's Syndrome" and the term "Friday Feeling" refer to Friday often being the last day of the working week for people and therefore people feeling more relaxed and easy-going on a Friday.

17. Many corporate workplaces in the West have a "Casual Friday" or "Dress-down Friday" dress-code where employees aren't expected to turn up to work in their smart business attire, but instead in something more casual like jeans and a t-shirt.
In some places around the world, there is also an occurrence known as "Country and Western Friday," which is similar to "Casual Friday," but where employees will wear Cowboy attire rather than casual clothing.

18. Most mainstream movies are released to the public on Fridays.
For huge blockbusters, a 12:00 midnight Friday premiere is also common.
Even on streaming sites, the most popular day for release is Friday. We guess most people have the time to binge watch on Friday nights!
Some of the best movies have Friday in the title. It makes sense to us, because Friday is when the most interesting things tend to happen! There's the football film Friday Night Lights (2004), the body swap comedy Freaky Friday (1976, 2003), the stoner film Friday (1995), and of course, the slasher franchise Friday the 13th (1980).

19. More people have accidents on Friday than any other day of the week.
Some of the reasons: fatigue from the work week, anticipation of the weekend, and the increased alcohol consumption to celebrate the weekend. Take care of yourself on Friday and look both ways before crossing the street!

20. It used to be common to fire someone on Friday afternoon. However, in recent years this has changed, because people fired on Friday will often engage in destructive behavior on the weekend.
It is now suggested terminations take place on Wednesday, so the employee can gather their thoughts, speak to coworkers, and tie off loose ends before Friday.

Sources
Wikipedia