Because the day is Friday and the date is the thirteenth the Thirteen Club ( an organisation which exists for the purpose of defying superstition ) met for luncheon in the Savoy Hotel in London - at the luncheon which is only held when the thirteenth day of the month is a Friday the members of the Club do everything they can to flout time honoured superstitions - among other things they spill salt and walk under ladders and open umbrellas indoors - photo shows Bill Randall ( secretary of the Thirteen Club ) arriving for the luncheon by passing under a ladder with a human skull and cross-bones on a plate April 13th 1934