- I'll start with the 27 Club. According to the superstition, talented young musicians have a tendency to die at the age of 27. I mean, people of all ages die regularly, but it is kind of strange that some of the greatest musicians of all time didn't make it past this relatively young year. The curse began in 1969, when Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones drowned in a swimming pool. The next year, in 1970, Jimi Hendrix died of asphyxiation. He mixed alcohol and sleeping pills and choked on his own vomit. That was in September. Less than a month later, Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose. Less than a year after that, Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors died of "heart failure." They never did an autopsy though, so I'm not too sure about that. The curse seemed to go away, perhaps because the era of psychadelia came to an end and even rock stars didn't use such copious amounts of drugs anymore. But in 1994, the curse came roaring back with the apparent suicide of Kurt Cobain. Now Amy Winehouse has joined the illustrious roster of truly gifted artists whose lives were cut short at the age of 27. (By the way, I only mentioned the most famous members of the club. But upwards of forty more obscure musicians have also joined the ranks.)
- The Hope Diamond is also reportedly cursed, though I'd take my chances for a chance to wear it. The story of its origin is sketchy at best, but we do know it was acquired (maybe bought, maybe stolen) in India by a Frenchman named Tavernier, sometime between 1653-69, where he sold it to Louis XIV. It was cut to 69 carats, but disappeared after the French Revolution. It was cut into two pieces, the larger piece turning up in London. It passed through the hands of various obscenely wealthy people until the Smithsonian obtained it in 1958. People who have come into contact with the stone have been beheaded, committed suicide, killed by Bolsheviks, lynched, dismembered, raped, gone insane, imprisoned, tortured, and died miserable. Bear in mind, this was published in the NY Times in 1911, and is very sketchy.
- James Dean's 1955 Porsche Spyder is apparently cursed, though it was a very cool car. He affectionately named it "Little Bastard," and it lived up to the name. Dean was killed in a head-on collision in the new car. It was sold to a guy who wanted to sell its parts. At the garage, it fell off its blocks and crushed a mechanic's legs. The man who bought the engine was killed the first time he used it in a race. The man who bought the transmission was gravely wounded in a crash, and the man who bought the tires crashed when two of the tires blew out simultaneously. You may be wondering, "Where is this car, so I can avoid it at all costs?" Well, no worries, while Little Bastard's shell was being transported to an exhibition, the truck that was transporting it crashed. The driver was killed, and the car vanished. It's not been seen in over fifty years.
- The Kennedy Curse certainly seems to have something to it, but they tended to put themselves in risky situations sometimes and have been America's most well-known family dynasty for almost a century. Rosemary Kennedy was mentally disabled, and in 1941, her father Joseph arranged for her to undergo a lobotomy. It failed and she lived in a mental institution until her death in 2005. Joe, Jr. was killed during in 1944; his plane exploded over the English Channel during a dangerous mission. Kathleen and her husband were also killed in a plane crash four years later. In '56, Jackie Kennedy gave birth to a stillborn daughter, and in 1963, their son Patrick died two days after he was born. Obviously, John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Nine months later, in June 1964, Sen. Ted Kennedy barely survived a plane crash that killed an aide and a pilot. In June 1968, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated after delivering a campaign speech in California. In 1969, Ted was involved in another crash- this time in a car. He survived the infamous Chappaquiddick Incident, but his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, did not. In '73, Joe Kennedy II was involved in a car crash that left his passenger paralyzed. Ted Kennedy, Jr. lost his right leg to bone cancer the same year. David Kennedy (RFK's son) died of a drug overdose in 1984. In 1997, another of Bobby Kennedy's sons, Michael, died in a skiing accident in Aspen. And, finally, in 1999, JFK, Jr. was killed in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard.
- I saved my personal favorite curse for last: the curse of Tippecanoe. The presidents elected in 1840, 1860, 1880, 1900, 1920, 1940, and 1960 all died in office. The curse takes its name from William Henry Harrison, nicknamed Tippecanoe after the battle at which he was a hero. When he was elected president, he delivered the longest inaugural address in history. It ran almost two hours, and it was delivered outside, in the rain. And Harrison decided to look manly and forgo the traditional coat. Not surprisingly, he caught pneumonia and died after about a month in office, most of which was spent in bed. In 1860, the country elected Abraham Lincoln president and promptly went to war with each other. He was elected to a second term, but only got about a month into it before he was assassinated by pissed off Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth. In 1880, James Garfield was assassinated by disgruntled office seeker and professional lunatic Charles Guiteau. He shot the president as he was getting off a train. He wasn't killed instantly; he lingered for several weeks, being poked and prodded by well-meaning doctors trying to dislodge the bullet from his spine. Twenty years later, in 1900, William McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. Leon was so fired up by Emma Goldman's anarchy speech, he decided he needed to go kill the president. He shot him in a receiving line at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition. 1920 saw the election of the relatively awful president, Warren G. Harding. He died of either a heart attack or stroke in 1923. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932, '36, '40, and '44. If he hadn't enjoyed being president so damn much, the pattern would have been broken after only 80 years. But instead, he died of a stroke just barely into his fourth term. John F. Kennedy was the last president to fall victim to this unfortunate pattern. Elected in 1960, he was assassinated by (Lee Harvey Oswald/Grassy Knoll shooter/the CIA/the Mafia/the Russians) on November 22, 1963. The pattern nearly continued in 1981 when John Hinckley, Jr. successfully shot Ronald Reagan in a quest to win the affection of Jodie Foster. However, he failed to successfully kill President Reagan, so the curse was pretty much broken. And, obviously, President Bush made it through his stint in office unscathed, so the curse has really been broken now. Of course, back in the day, it was a lot easier to kill the president than it is now.
I left out so many famous "curses." If I snubbed your personal favorite, feel free to let me know!
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