The Curse of the Hope DiamondCredit: Creative Commons | KeepOpera
French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, according to legend, stole a 115-carat blue diamond from the eye of a Hindu idol in India — for this sacrilege, Tavernier was supposedly mauled to death by dogs. But in reality, he sold the gem to King Louis XIV of France in 1669 and retired a wealthy man. All went well until the diamond fell into the hands of King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, who were beheaded during the French Revolution. After Lord Francis Hope of England inherited the diamond, he married an American showgirl. The pair squandered their fortune, sold the diamond and were eventually reduced to poverty. After Evalyn Walsh McLean bought the stone in 1912, her son was killed in a car accident, her daughter committed suicide and her husband left her for another woman (he eventually ended up in an insane asylum). The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History bought the Hope Diamond in 1958 and hasn't suffered from owning it — but a truck hit the postman who delivered the jewel (he survived). His wife and dog died not long after, however, and his home caught fire.
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