Uh oh, it’s Friday the 13th, the unluckiest day of the year!

Oh, that’s nonsense, you say…Friday the 13th is no different than any other day, except it has stupid horror movie named after it.

But wait!  Friday the 13th has been suspected of bringing bad luck for many years.  After all, in 1939 a bush fire started on Friday the 13th in Australia that killed 39 people in one day.  

In 1951, rains in Kansas caused a flood on Friday the 13th that was the worst day of flood destruction in the state’s history.  Water in the business district of Manhattan, Kansas stood 8 feet deep.

On Friday, Oct. 13th, 2006 in Buffalo, New York, they had a doozy of a blizzard.  Twenty-four inches of snow fell, in October!  It was known as the “Friday the 13th Blizzard.”

And on Friday, Jan. 13th, 2012, a cruise ship off the coast of Italy struck a reef and capsized.  It was a very bad way to end a vacation.

So yeah, Friday the 13th has had it’s share of bad things, but it’s also had a few good things.  On Friday, Oct. 13, 1967 President Lyndon Johnson signed an executive order which stated that the government cannot discriminate its employment practices based on gender.  Women everywhere cheered.

A few years before that, on a Friday the 13th, the accordion was patented.  Anyone (like me) who had a grandpa who played the accordion will smile with fond memories hearing the old squeezebox.  And anyone who still plays the accordion should also smile, because it’s becoming a lost art that shouldn’t be lost.

And on Friday, Oct. 13 1939, Eveleyn Pinckert Kilgore became the first licensed female flight instructor.  Women have been soaring with eagles ever since.

So you see that Friday the 13th  doesn’t have to be unlucky, although it sometimes is.  It’s just a day.  UNLESS…you have a birthday on Friday the 13th. Then, it’s only unlucky if you don’t get cake!