For years, Friday the 13th has had the stigma of being an unlucky day.  Various sources contend as to why the day has been regarded with superstition.

Why this day happens to draw unusual events, we are uncertain.  But here is a series of events that have added to Friday the 13th’s reputation for bad luck, and horror:

• Friday the 13th traces back to a Dutch holiday where mischievous children would sneak into graveyards at night and defecate on tombstones.

• In France, Friday the 13th often fell on the day after the Feast of Saint Imbibecus.  Thus the day was often associated with terrible hangovers and poor choices made the night before.

• The Aztecs brutally killed 39,000 in one day on Friday the 13th of August, 1539.  This was done at the request of the recently arrived Hernan Cortez, who claimed to be a god seeking tribute.  The next day he overthrew their empire.

• One source says the number 13 has been unlucky since the Last Supper of Christ, where thirteen people were in attendance.

• Hammurabi’s Code, the first set of state initiated laws, omits the number 13, leading some to believe the superstition dates back to Babylon in 1700 BC.  However archaeologists agree that there indeed was a thirteenth law that was scratched out.  Studies of ancient tablets indicate the law condoned cross dressing of government officials, but was probably removed at the advice of Hammurabi’s aides.

• Genghis Khan is said to have tasted his first defeat on Friday the 13th.  This fight between Genghis and five other larger children fueled the inferiority complex which drove him to conquer a continent.

• Most skyscrapers do not include a thirteenth floor.  Gregory Johnson bravely included a thirteenth floor in his designs for the Empire State Building in New York.  Three days after its completion, on a Friday, the weight of the building caused it to buckle and it crushed the thirteenth floor.  It has been structurally sound ever since.

• In London’s summer of 1865, seven prostitutes, two flower sellers, three secretaries and a nun were assaulted on Friday July 13th by a crazy man wearing an athletic mask.  The assailant would jump out of the shadows and present them with literature supporting the Conservative Party.  As the women screamed and tried to run away, they were asked for donations repeatedly, up to 18 times in one case.

• In 1881, a group of New Yorkers started The 13 Club, aimed at removing the superstitious stigma from the number.  At their first meeting on Friday the 13th, all thirteen members walked under a ladder into a room filled spilled salt and broken mirrors.  They all died in a freak accident involving a runaway truck and a rabid wolverine on its way to be put down.

• On Friday June 13th of 1952, Massachusetts Governor Kyle McArthur banned all private automotive transportation on the unlucky day.  Nine overcrowded city buses crashed into each other in downtown Boston.

• Billy Ray Cyrus, Bobby Brown, and Michael Bolton all released albums on Friday the 13th.

How or why this day attracts the macabre we are unsure.  The Weekly World News wishes all its readers to have a happy and safe Friday the 13th.

Many are afraid of the curse of Friday the 13th.  Here’s how you can make it through the day unharmed.

Friday the 13th has been the unluckiest of days for thousands of years. The number 13 has been the center of many superstitious customs.  Buildings skip the 13th floor, people refuse travel on the 13th day of any month, regardless of the day of the week and others  simply to refuse to pay any bill on the 13th.   Paraskevidekatriaphobia, the scientific name for the fear of 13, is more widespread than you would imagine.

But here’s how you can turn the curse of Friday the 13th into a a charm:

#1 GET A SPONGE BATH

Have a loved one, friend or co-worker give you a sponge bath.  Greeks have long used sponge baths to cure curses.  Stand in a bathtub (or if you’re at work, stand by the water cooler).  Take off all your clothes. Have your “Charmer” take a wet sponge and gently move it up-and-down your entire body.  Lights should be low.  Candles are not necessary, but if you want… go for it.  If you are alone – find a friend, neighbor or paramedic!  You can not administer a sponge bath to yourself and expect to be curse free.

#2 SPIT

For centuries shamans have known that spitting on a thing or person that you believe has a curse rids that thing or person of the curse.  If you are alone and believe that you have been cursed by someone or something – spit on your upper arm or lower thigh.  In all cases, one targeted spit will do, no need for over-spitting.

# 3 CARRY A BOWLING BALL

This charm was discovered in the 1950s in Akron, Ohio by Floyd Merkel.  If you carry a bowling ball (preferably purple), with you all day you will be protected from all evil spirits (and you will also keep most other people away).  Do not stick your fingers in the bowling ball holes.  Just carry the bowling ball – chest high.  There’s a side benefit:  toned arms.

# 4 THROW A HORSESHOE

Yes, this is an old one.  Placing a horseshoe on your wall does help.  But it’s better to throw horseshoes at your neighbors’  mailboxes – see if you can get them to wrap around the base. The more horseshoes you throw, the better chance you’ll be safe.

#5  SING “DEVIL WITH THE BLUE DRESS ON”

You may think this is a song of praise, but it’s not.  The devil and his minions hate this song.  Sing it as loud as you can, for as long as you can, and you will keep the Devil away.  You may be alone for most of the day, but you may be on your way to American Idol.

#6  PET A COW

Indians have known for centuries that cows are sacred animals.  And it’s true, they do possess magical powers.  So find a cow, approach him in anon-threatening way and pet him (or her).  Twenty-one gentle strokes on the backside will do.  In lieu of this advice, some have asked if it’s still okay to eat hamburger or steak on Friday the 13th.  This is fine, as long as you pet a cow earlier in the day.   If there is no cow in your general vicinity, find a leather boot.  This also seems to work.  Twenty-one gentle strokes on the side of the boot will do.  You can use two boots if you want…

#7 HAVE SEX

This may seem obvious, but the Devil does not want you having sex, and certainly does not want you enjoying it.  So have sex – three times in three different positions – and you will be safe and sound!

Go enjoy Friday the 13th!

LONDON – Alarming new research confirms what millions have believed for years – Friday the 13th really is unlucky!

A group of English scientists, reporting in the highly respected British Medical Journal, cited statistics and records stretching over a three-year period – 2005 through 2007 – that indisputably prove Friday the 13th is a dangerous date.

The researchers go as far as to say that you shouldn’t leave your house on that day. “Staying at home is recommended,” says a spokesman for the group.

They concluded that your life and health can be in twice as much danger on Friday the 13th as on other days.

Perhaps the most frightening finding of the exhaustive study was that your chances of being admitted to the hospital due to an accident on the highway are two times greater on Friday the 13th.

The professors studied traffic-flow figures on a busy London motorway. They compared accident figures for Fridays the 13th with those of other Fridays.

They found that hospital admissions skyrocketed on the 13th.

No one can explain the rise in bad luck but one theory has to do with the power of suggestion.

The researchers believe that knowing it’s Friday the 13th may increase anxiety and interfere with people’s ability to concentrate on their driving, leaving them at greater risk of crashing.

But another scientist, familiar with the experiment, calls that theory inconclusive.

“Some of the people involved in accidents on Friday the 13th aren’t even aware of what day it is,” said the scientist. “It’s highly unlikely that the power of suggestion is working on them.

“Why are my colleagues unwilling to admit that ‘folk wisdom’ may be accurate – that, for reasons we don’t understand, it may just be an unlucky day.

“When people have believed something for hundreds of years, there’s a strong possibility that it’s true.”