Laura Wright 
The number 23 gained a peculiar reputation during the twentieth century.
To some people, it was unlucky, perhaps even more unlucky than 13. Others believed the number possessed mysterious properties and appeared with unusual frequency in major historical events.
The fascination eventually became part of popular culture. In 2007, The Number 23 starred Jim Carrey in an unusually serious role and introduced another generation to the strange mythology surrounding the number.
But the fascination with 23 was hardly new.
Long before movies and modern conspiracy theories became attached to it, people were already finding the number in history, disasters, politics, advertisements, and everyday life.
And more than a century ago, Americans were already talking about something called “23 Skidoo.”
Finding 23 in History
One of the attractions of numerical mysteries is the ease with which patterns can seemingly appear once someone begins looking for them.
The number 23 has accumulated an impressive collection.
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, people noted that adding the numbers in the date and year produced 23:
9 + 11 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 23
Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times during his assassination.
The sinking of the Titanic produced another numerical connection. The ship sank on April 15, 1912:
4 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 2 = 23
Adolf Hitler attempted to overthrow the German government in 1923.
Then, on March 23, 1933, the German Parliament met to consider Hitler’s Enabling Act, which helped establish his dictatorship.
Other historical events, including the bombing of Hiroshima and the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, have also been connected with the number.
Coincidence?
Perhaps.
But once people begin finding numerical patterns, it can become surprisingly difficult to stop.
The Fascination With Numerical Coincidences
Human beings have been fascinated with unusual numbers for centuries.
Some numbers become sacred.
Others become unlucky.
Still others acquire mysterious associations because people begin noticing them in unexpected places.
The number 13 is probably the most famous example, but its history is extensive enough to deserve a discussion of its own.
There are plenty of other numerical mysteries.
One of the most famous involves two American presidents.
Lincoln and Kennedy
Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Lincoln was elected president in 1860.
Kennedy was elected president in 1960.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
These similarities have circulated for generations as examples of strange historical coincidence.
They are hardly the only ones.
666 and the 2008 Election
Another curious numerical coincidence occurred immediately after the 2008 presidential election.
The Illinois lottery held a drawing the day after Barack Obama was elected president.
One of the winning combinations was:
6-6-6.
Considering the enormous amount of superstition attached to 666, the coincidence inevitably attracted attention.
The Curse of Tamerlane
Numbers are not the only strange coincidences attached to historical events.
When archaeologists opened the tomb of Tamerlane, they reportedly discovered an inscription warning that whoever opened the tomb would unleash an invader greater than Tamerlane himself.
The warning became known as the Curse of Tamerlane.
The Soviet researchers didn’t believe it.
Two days later, on the night of June 22, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union without warning.
Whether regarded as a curse or coincidence, the timing ensured that the story would survive.
Archduke Ferdinand and 11-11-18
Another famous numerical story concerns the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
The automobile associated with the assassination carried the license plate:
A III 118
The assassination helped trigger World War I.
The war eventually ended with the Armistice on:
11-11-18.
The resemblance between the plate and the eventual date has helped preserve the story as another example of apparent numerical prediction.
Napoleon and Hitler
Napoleon and Adolf Hitler have also been the subjects of numerical comparisons.
The two men were born 129 years apart.
They came to full power 129 years apart.
They waged war against Russia 129 years apart.
And they were defeated 129 years apart.
As with the Lincoln-Kennedy comparisons, the similarities invite the reader to decide how much significance should be attached to them.
Other Mysterious Numbers
The number 23 is hardly alone in attracting folklore.
33 has developed a reputation through supposed associations with occultists, Freemasons, and secret societies.
The number 47 has also acquired its own peculiar mythology. The television series Lost included 47 survivors following the original airplane crash, while Japanese history provides the famous story of the Forty-Seven Ronin.
Religious traditions have their own important numbers.
Seven, Six, and Nineteen
Within Christianity, 7 traditionally represents completion and possesses considerable spiritual significance.
The famous spiritualist H. P. Blavatsky also promoted the idea that 7 was an important number.
The number 6, by contrast, has been interpreted in Christianity as an imperfection or corruption of what is complete or holy.
That association reaches its most famous expression in 666, the Number of the Beast.
Within Islam, 19 has acquired its own mysterious properties.
Even mathematics has numbers that can seem almost magical.
The Mystery of 6174
Mathematicians have long recognized unusual properties surrounding the number 6174.
It has consequently developed a reputation as another mysterious number.
But the number at the center of this particular mystery remains 23.
And its history goes back much farther than many people realize.
Back to 23
Modern fascination with 23 has sometimes been associated with writer William S. Burroughs and the continuing development of 23-related lore during the twentieth century.
But the number already possessed a curious reputation long before the 1960s.
The phrase “23 Skidoo” had been circulating for decades.
It essentially meant:
Get out while the getting’s good.
Or, more simply:
Leave. Quickly.
The expression became enormously popular.
What Did “23 Skidoo” Mean?
“23 Skidoo” was used from around the turn of the twentieth century and became associated with leaving a place quickly, particularly when remaining might lead to trouble.
The expression traveled through the vaudeville circuit and entered popular slang.
Businesses recognized its popularity.
Companies incorporated 23 into advertising campaigns, and stores distributed or sold Number 23 pins.
By the early twentieth century, the number itself had become a recognizable cultural curiosity.
Newspapers also delighted in finding examples of the supposed hoodoo.
Senator Wetmore and the Number 23
One such story appeared in the Virginia Enterprise on March 27, 1908.
Senator Wetmore of Rhode Island occupied seat number 23 in the United States Senate.
Then he was removed from the Senate on the 23rd.
The new state legislature promptly selected Wetmore to succeed himself.
By this point, Wetmore had apparently become suspicious of the number.
Officials planned for him to be sworn back into office on January 23.
Wetmore declined.
He wanted the proceedings postponed for several days.
Then the story became stranger.
Twenty-three days after Wetmore was sworn in, Senator Latimer of South Carolina died.
Wetmore subsequently lost his seat number 23.
For newspaper writers already fascinated by the number, the story was irresistible.
Engine 2323
Another remarkable story appeared on February 1, 1907, in the Little Falls Herald.
Whether every detail of the account was factual is uncertain, but the numerical coincidences were spectacular.
Engine 2323 entered a train yard pulling 23 cars.
The time was reportedly 23:23 using Canadian time.
The date was January 23.
Then the train derailed.
The cause?
A switch had split at the 23rd rail.
If someone had deliberately written a story designed around the number 23, it would be difficult to squeeze in many more examples.
But “23 Skidoo” may be older still.
An 1883 Appearance of 23 Skidoo
One of the most intriguing pieces of evidence comes from Paint, Oil and Chemical Review, Volume 51, published by the Trade Review Company in 1883.
Among its advertisements was a paint and varnish removal product called:
23 Skidoo.
The product was associated with a Brooklyn-based enterprise.
That appearance raises an interesting possibility.
Could this company have helped originate the expression that later swept through American popular culture?
Or was the business itself borrowing an expression that was already circulating?
The surviving advertisement at least demonstrates that the history surrounding “23 Skidoo” reaches surprisingly far back.
The Hoodoo Behind 23 Skidoo
Perhaps there is nothing mysterious about the number 23.
Given enough historical dates, names, disasters, elections, wars, birthdays, and calculations, patterns will inevitably emerge.
Once people become fascinated with a particular number, they naturally begin noticing it more often.
But that doesn’t make the folklore surrounding 23 any less interesting.
Long before The Number 23 appeared in theaters, people were already collecting coincidences.
Long before William S. Burroughs became associated with the number, newspapers were publishing stories about its strange appearances.
Senators worried about it.
Railroad stories revolved around it.
Advertisers sold it.
Vaudeville performers repeated it.
And somewhere along the way, two words became part of American slang:
23 Skidoo.
Whether 23 possesses mysterious properties is another question entirely.
But its reputation has been around considerably longer than most people realize.
About the Author
